


The Swan Prince

by uxiumin



Category: EXO (Band), K-pop
Genre: Alternate Universe - Arranged Marriage, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Angst with a Happy Ending, Arranged Marriage, Character Death, Eventual Happy Ending, M/M, Magic, Resurrection, Royalty, Swan Princess (1994) References, based on a movie i liked when i was a kid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-29
Updated: 2019-04-20
Packaged: 2019-09-02 05:54:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 14
Words: 26,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16780939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/uxiumin/pseuds/uxiumin
Summary: "From the morning to the eveningwhite feathers will be your wearingwhen the Moon shines on the lakeher power will erase this spellno more wings or feathers until the Moon leaves these watersbut if you are not in them, you will turn into ashes"Byun Baekhyun, Prince of Lux left the Royal Palace searching for a new fate, one he can choose for himself. On his adventure he finds a witch that curses him. Some time after that, a red haired Prince from another country gets lost near a lake full of swans.





	1. Once upon a time

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!
> 
> I'm back with another work instead of updating the one I have on hold (sorry)  
> I've been rewatching a lot of movies from my youth and this is how I came up with this story, It takes a lot from the Swan Princess, an animated movie that if you haven't seen, you should!
> 
> Feel free to send your opinions or whatever you have to say. 
> 
> Thanks for reading.

“Once upon a time” every story worth telling starts like that, just like this one.

Once upon a time there was a Prince. Born twenty years ago from where this story starts, Byun Baekhyun is well known, not only for his beauty and looks, but also for his bright, witty and sarcastic personality. The young Prince of Lux was always at the center of his country attention, this had something to do with the fact that he was always plotting something, a party, escaping the palace or a hunt trip without his personal guards, he couldn’t do any of this without his sidekick and best friend Kim Jongdae, Prince of the neighbour Kingdom of Fulgur he used to spent entire summers with Baekhyun in Lux. They were the best friends as kids, as teenagers and even have some retirement ideas together for when they grow old and tired of being rulers.

From the mountain and snowy region, to the lakes and pastures region, Lux is a great and blooming country, in peace with his nearest neighbours. You could say that the least peaceful thing about Lux was his silver haired young Prince.

Being a Prince was surely nice, having few responsabilites and a lot of benefits coming with the position was nice, but it also had a con. His parents would expect the best of the best about him, including grades, behaviour and reputation inside and outside their country. And of course, marriage. Baekhyun knew that this topic will come out soon now that his older sister had left the nest to marry the young King of Ventus. And this fact only added pressure to the topic - which he had been avoiding for months now - because his sister didn't marry another Prince in wait to inherit a Kingdom, she married a King, a full King, so he had to be, at least, a marriage as good as her, meaning: another King or a Prince. Having all of this inside his head day and night, he, of course knew that he would have this kind of conversation with his parents soon, but not this soon.

_“I'm not going.”_ \- that was the only thing Baekhyun has been saying for an hour now.

_“Yes, you are.”_ \- and that was the only thing his mother, the Queen, has been telling him.

His parents wanted to celebrate a party. A really huge one. Even his sister and his husband will be attending, the only problem is Baekhyun doesn't really want to go, because is a matching party. A party to find out which prince or princess will be more suitable for him. Baekhyun was feeling like a kid that their parents help to dress, well, in his opinion he didn't need that kind of help.

_“Why can you just...wait? I don't want to marry someone I don't know at all”_ \- Baekhyun crossed his arms over his chest and looked over the window, his mind already far away from his father private office.

_“Your sister did it, and she is happy”_ \- his mother pointed.

_“Wow, lucky girl”_ \- Baekhyun rolled his eyes so hard that they almost fall from its place.

_“Baekhyun”_ \- his father, the King, finally interfered - _“You are a royal, you don't have any other choice. In the end we will choose who is best fitted for you. Even if you don't like it”_

Baekhyun didn't know how to answer. He simply stood there, trying to swallow his father words, trying to understand how this could be “good” for him and refusing to believe it. So he left the room, storming out, startling a few guards in the process. His mother called his name but he didn't turn back, to his eyes his parents were the ones that turned his back on him and his happiness. He run, out of the palace, to the Royal Gardens, and when he found himself alone, he cried, and shouted to his heart content, until he stopped sobbing, until his eyes couldn’t create more tears.

─── ❖ ── ✦ ── ❖ ───

The Prince knew that the party was happening anyway, no matter how much he and his parents argued so, at the end, he found himself with Jongdae at the Royal Tailor to make him a new suit for the occasion.

_“You are being a bit overdramatic”_ \- Jongdae pointed out - _“You knew this was going to happen at some point”_

_“So you are on my parents side?”_ \- Baekhyun moved suddenly making the tailor prick him with a needle.

_“I’m on common sense side”_ \- Jongdae answered with a mocking face.

_“That will be the first time for you”_ \- Baekhyun answered under his breath. He was getting what Jongdae tried to say, but at the same time he only wanted some understanding words, something that helped him breath a little, because he had been feeling trapped inside of his own body since all of this started.

_“Your Grace”_ \- the Royal Tailor interrupted their back and forth - _“What colour would you like for the occasion?”_

Baekhyun looked at himself in the mirror, and had a wonderful idea, at least in his opinion.

_“Well, if they want me to marry that bad… let it be white. Completely white.”_ \- he said smiling mischievously.

Jongdae sighed loudly.

_“I don’t know if you are going to be a King someday, but I’m sure that you are already a drama queen”_

─── ❖ ── ✦ ── ❖ ───

One month after, the day of the party came. From morning to evening all kind of carriages from a lot of different countries came to the Lux capital to meet the young and avaliable Prince. His parents made a strong empashis on that last one adjective. Avaliable.

The ballroom was flooded with nobles and royals from everywhere that you could imagine. Some of them came to try and marry and others, with less expectatives, just to have a look to the Royal Family of Lux. Baekhyun waited until every single guest was there to make his entrance. His new white suit, with golden ornamental braids, paired with his silver hair made him look ethereal, like he had just came from another world to gift everyone with his presence.  
While descending the rich marble staircase of the ballroom, Baekhyun could notice every single glance on him, he was used to that kind of attention since he was a child, but making it on purpose was amusing.  
His mother hugged him when he got out of the staircase and whispered.

_“Did you have to be so extra, son?”_ \- there was no malice in her question.

_“If I have to do this, at least I want to do it with style”_ \- he whispered back, owning a small smile from his mother’s lips.

After that the King introduced his son to the multitude, and the party begun, the music and the wine soon led the people to dance and chat vividly, at least, Baekhyun thought, It won’t be one hell of a boring party. He, himself soon started dancing with some long distance relative and since his best friend was nowhere to be found he started talking with some of the candidates that dared to introduce themselves.

Baekhyun soon got overwhelmed with all the attention and the noise inside the stay, so he excused himself and went to the balcony to get some air. That’s where he found Jongdae. Talking with some guy, he has never seen before. He didn’t want to approach and interrupt anything but Jongdae saw him and called his name with his usual loud voice.

“ _Baek, this is Prince Kim Minseok, from the Nix country”_ \- Baekhyun made a reverence, and Minseok did the same.

_“I’m Byun Baekhyun, Prince of Lux, but if you are here you may already know that”_ \- Baekhyun explained, and Minseok chuckled.

“ _How could I not know who you are with that entrance you did?”_ \- Minseok answered and Jongdae laughed.

_“My friend here says that I’m a bit of a drama queen_ ” - Baekhyun simply shrugged.

The three of them chatted for a while until Minseok went inside to look for his parents at the ballroom. When the two friends were alone, Baekhyun had to ask.

_“Soooo…”_

_“Don’t you dare..:”_ \- Jongdae tried to stop him, nervous.

“ _You like him”_ \- Baekhyun said anyway.

Jongdae didn’t answered with words but he did with his face. He blushed heavily. There were no need of words.  
Baekhyun envied him, a lot. Not in the way you envy someone for having a bigger, fancier palace or something like that, the kind of envy that tells you that you really need what the other have, the type of envy that makes your heart ache.

The next morning all the carriages and such were still in the city, they know that Queen and King of Lux will soon make a decision, and leaving the city at this point could be interpreted as a withdrawal of the competition. A competition, a prize to win. Baekhyun hated that feeling, feeling like an object to use for political benefit, he was getting really sick. Baekhyun was just lying in bed, waiting until his parents called him with some news, and with the midday sun the news came.

Baekhyun was called to his parents private office, just like one month ago. Probably to argue again.


	2. Runaway

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for all the kudos left on the previous chapter, I hope this one gets some too ♥

_“You are kidding me”_ \- Baekhyun couldn’t believe his ears, his parents, or any of the ongoing situation.

“ _Baekhyun don’t do this more difficult”_ \- his mother pleaded.

 _“You are the ones making it difficult!”_ \- Baekhyun shouted.

The Prince just wanted to go away, to disappear, he was a second away of breaking in tears when his father got up from his chair to give him a loud slap in his left cheek, leaving The Queen and Baekhyun speechless and a uneasy silence on the room at the same time.

“ _You are not behaving yourself as a worth child of mine”_ \- his father stated. To be fair, he wasn’t talking like a father, he was talking like a King even if he addressed Baekhyun as his son. - _“You are going to marry him because it’s the best for the country, and secondly because is a good deal for you. Don’t forget that you are Prince first, and Baekhyun second.”_

Baekhyun could only hold his right red cheek with is hand, he could feel not only his cheek burning but also his blood, his whole body, his mother tried to approach and comfort him a little, but Baekhyun refused her touch with eyes full of rage.

 _“You say I’m not behaving as your worthy son…”_ \- Baekhyun speaked slowly while rising his gaze to his father - _“Maybe you are the one not worthy of being my father, Your Majesty.”_

Before the King could answer back, Baekhyun left the room, his mother was completely speechless, at the verge of crying. Baekhyun ran, ran trying to find some comfort, so he of course thought of Jongdae. Even if right now he didn’t want to think about him.

He found Jongdae alone, walking in the gardens, and called his name running into him. The two of them have been together for a lifetime, they’re used to sleep together, to hug, to hit, to make each other tickles if you might, they have even kissed once while playing some game at a party, they are always looking for each other company, but not this way. Not the kind of company their parents want them to have now. Baekhyun felt sick, outtraged.

Usually Baekhyun would run into him, probably pat his head or his back and walk together, but this time, they both stop. They are phisically close, but their minds aren’t.

 _“I guess you already know”_ \- Jongdae started. He has always been the type to confront things first.

 _“They told you too..:”_ \- Baekhyun realized then that he had been the last one to know about the deal. Great, he thought, now we can add "like a fool" to all the things he was feeling inside.- “ _Your parents… they agreed?”_

 _“Apparently it was my parents suggestion”_ \- Jongdae sighed - _“What are we going to do?”_

They both looked at each other. It wasn’t sadness, it wasn’t despair, it was a mix of desperation and a weird feeling, the feeling of a wall building between both of them, what if this makes them lose their long friendship?. For sure Jongdae will lose all his chances with the northern Prince he likes. Baekhyun wants to cry and hide in his bedroom forever.

_“I guess we’re marrying”_

─── ❖ ── ✦ ── ❖ ───

It’s been a month since the compromise between the Princes of Lux and Fulgur has been made and Baekhyun has only left his bedroom for official issues, his mother has been trying to talk to him, but he has never opened his door for her. Baekhyun had not only closed his bedroom door, he had also closed his heart, specially to his parents, he can't look at them, he can't bear to be with them right now.  
Maybe he was being stubborn, even childish, but he couldn’t help but feel that it was wrong, for Jongdae, who left the palace the day after the news, and for him.

He was trying to distract himself one day when he heard a knock on his door, believing it was his mother again, he shouted.

_“Go away”_

_“I’m not mother”_ \- a soft female voice at the other side answered. It was his sister.

She entered without asking, who could stop a determined pregnant woman anyway. She sitted on the bed looking at Baekhyun lying down.

 _“We haven’t talked in a while”_ \- she tried to start the conversation.

 _“I though you have left with your husband”_ \- he answered not paying much attention.

 _“He did. But I was worried”_ \- Her voice and words were soft, she didn’t came to argue. At least not right now. Baekhyun left his position to sit besides his sister.

 _“Are you here to call me childish too?”_ \- he asked.

 _“You had always been” -_ she laughed a bit. - _“But I don’t think you are entirely wrong being angry with our parents”_

 _“You… agree with me?”_ \- Baekhyun asked and his sister nodded.

 _“I agree with the idea, but not with the methods”_ \- she looked at Baekhyun dearly - _“If you don’t want to marry the Prince of Fulgur, you’ll have to fight, but not like this.”_

She was right, Baekhyun thought, isolating himself wasn’t going to bring any solution. But she was wrong in one point; there is no way out of this. His hands are tied.

 _“Thank you”_ \- Baekhyun said anyway, at least he wasn’t feeling crazy anymore.

 _“Try to go out, to freshen your head and your mood, okay?_ \- His sister said leaving a soft kiss on his forehead. - _“And if you ever need some… vacation you have a bedroom at Ventus Palace.”_

She left the room, leaving Baekhyun alone again with his thoughts. A room in Ventus. It sounded nice, actually, at least it was pretty far from Lux, but in the long term it was no solution at all, his parents would know how to reach him if he left the country for his sister’s new one.  
Maybe a idea was starting to bloom inside the Prince’s head. Where could he be without his parents knowing? Could he runaway the palace and start a life somewhere else?.

He dressed up, he chose the last suit he wore, the white one, a runaway groom, he thought, how poetic. He also thought of writing something addressed to his mother, but he only left a note with a “Sorry” attached.

He did left a long letter to Jongdae, asking him to be brave and conquer that Minseok of his dreams, that he loves him, but not in the way their families want them to love each other. And a final plea for him no to hate Baekhyun too much for leaving like this.

Because he was leaving. For good.

He packed light, he didn’t want everyone to notice him with a big bundle, that would be suspicious. Some food, some money, and something to sleep in if he had to camp in the wild. Baekhyun had slipped away from the castle before, he had a rope in his wardrobe to help him so he could get out from the window. He just had to be careful, there was a lot of windows to get through and it was a high third floor.

A long while after all the descending situation, once he was already at the ground, he looked at his hands, red and sweaty and smiled. Maybe this was the start of a new look, a look way less royal, for him. Even fuller of determination, he got into the royal stables, and choose his own horse, as every prince he was an experimented rider, but getting out of the Palace with the horse was going to be difficult, any noise at this hour could easily alert the guards, so he brought a carrot to have his horse entertained with chewing and not neighing, he threw over his shoulders and head his black cape and took an old entrance to the castle that nowadays was only used by the staff.

He looked back at the castle one more time, he didn’t know if it was going to see it ever again, so he said his goodbyes and crossed the walls.

Once he was outside, Baekhyun mounted on his horse and disappeared, fast, in the night. The capital right behind of him, gleaming with life, and right ahead only the unknown.

His destination, the Dark Woods.


	3. The Dark Woods

The Dark Woods were called like that for a reason, the trees were so leafy, so old and lush that almost no light came through, even during day. Furthermore, there had always been this story around about a witch living there, but Baekhyun, or anyone at the Palace, never believed it, witches, sages or dragons were long extinct and were now just stories to scare naughty children.

He chose the Dark Woods because that story kept people away, even soldiers, and it was the last place anyone will look for him. Plus, if he could go through the woods he will cross the border with the Aqualis Kingdom, where no one should know about him, and start from scratch. Maybe buy a little cabin, dye his hair in any color less noticeable, and start a tiny quiet life, but a life of his own. Baekhyun knew that he had to be fast, the Dark Woods were almost a day away from the capital, and early in the morning the Palace staff will notice his absence, so he rode the whole night trying to avoid the main roads so no guard on patrol will see him and the less villagers, the best. He talked to some people on the way, the roads were tricky at night and he wasn't used to it. Asking for directions and for the names of the villages only took him a few minutes ,some people looked weirdly at him, but others actually helped a lot. He was making progresses, little ones, but step by step he felt the chains tying him to the Palace, to the wedding, to his written fate loosen.

Baekhyun was unusually happy given the situation, he was feeling free.  
Alone but free.  
The young Prince could feel like a heavy burden has been lifted, that his breathing is no longer shut by the pressure, he couldn’t hide the grin in his face, he was determined to find a new life just for him.

Baekhyun reached the Dark Woods a day and some hours after his departure from the Palace. He made a few more stops here and there to eat or drink, and always in places where there was nobody.  
The moment he reached the threshold of the woods, he entered. No looking back.

His back and legs were begging him to crash at the nearest inn before entering the dangerous woods, but Baekhyun knew that forces from both Lux and Fulgur would be already looking for him and they will search in every corner, under every rock. At first his horse tried to turn, so Baekhyun had to calm him before entering the Woods, he even had to calm himself, the Dark Woods were giving him the chills, they were an impressive view.

A bad omen, he thought.

It was true what they said about the woods, Baekhyun thought, they were really dark for a forest, but it was full of untouched life, since no one enters regularly, he found himself enjoying the all green view, but, soon he realized that nobody enters not only because they are dark, also because the Dark Woods are a natural maze.  
The Prince had to admit that he was completely lost after some hours trying to orient himself, he no longer knew where the north or the south was and his horse was tired, so he had to stop and start a fire to see something in the even darker evening.

The night at the woods was freezing and his good mood from the morning had already faded. The Prince could sense his horse being tense, wanting to be out of there, he couldn’t blame him, though, Baekhyun was starting to regret his decision of entering the woods too, specially because he had been feeling something weird, some kind of presence around.

Maybe the stories weren’t that crazy.

Looking at the tiny fire he managed to make and thinking about the stories around this place made his head dizzy, his mind wandered to Jongdae, how could he be managing this situation, Baekhyun was hoping for the best to happen to his friend, but he knew that Jongdae under pressure tends to be chaotic and even louder than usual. And Jongdae was already a pretty loud person in a normal day. Thinking about his dear friend made Baekhyun smile for the first time that night, soon he lost the track of his own thoughts and his mind turned dizzy, the silver haired boy felt asleep under the gaze of someone that know the woods really well.


	4. Plainly sad

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry I didn't update last week, in compesation this week will have two updates.  
> This chapter is a bit short, but necessary.
> 
> Merry Christmas, by the way!

When the Prince of Fulgur reached the Lux Castle again he was desperate to get answers but instead of getting what he wanted he had to answer some himself to que Queen of Lux.

Few days ago a royal courier entered his private chambers out of breath, Jongdae has been on his chambers most of the time since the marriage had been announced, not angry, but thinking on a way of getting himself, and Baekhyun free. He couldn’t believe what the courier had to tell him, Jongdae expression turned into a permanent frown, and without a saying a word he left the Fulgur Palace that same day.

 _“Did he told anything to you?”_ \- The Queen was angry, not at Jongade, not a Baekhyun, maybe at herself, the Prince thought.

 _“No, my Queen”_ \- Jongdae was speechless, how Baekhyun could do this without telling him. It has to be other ways, Jongdae thought. Even if Baekhyun was angry at this parents, even if he didn’t want to marry Jongdae… how.

Jongdae was feeling powerless, and somehow angry.

 _“Give it to him”_ \- The King said. The monarch was sitting on a enormous chair on his private office, he didn’t even turn to look at Jongdae. A maid gave Jongdae an envelope with his name on it.

 _“What is this?”_ \- he couldn’t help but ask.

 _“A letter. He only left a letter to you”_ \- That was all The Queen said before dismissing Jongdae.

When the Prince of Fulgur reached his bedroom in the Palace he looked at the envelope with mistrust but opened it anyway, if Baekhyun wanted to explain his reasons, that would be the place.

> “Dear Jongdae:
> 
> I can’t remember a time were you weren’t a part of my life. And, please, believe when I say that doing this without you hurts, hurts like ripping an arm from my body. But you had always be more responsible than me and I know that you wouldn’t agree to this, but I have to do it.
> 
> I don’t want any of us to get bitter with the years, I don’t want to see you wither with time thinking about how happy you could have been with someone you actually love. And I don’t want the same for me.
> 
> Please forgive me, maybe you can’t do that right now, I can see that, you are the type to hold a grudge, but maybe in the future.
> 
> Speaking of future, I hope you grow some balls and conquer that northern Prince of yours, you deserve to be happy, and If it’s him who makes you happy, go for it, you’ll always have my support.
> 
> I’ll try to send you a letter or two once I can, but don’t wait for them, and don’t miss me too much.
> 
> Forever your friend.
> 
> B”

The last line on the letter will always be blurry, few tears fell from Jongdae’s eyes making the ink smudge. He was sad now, plainly sad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are really appreaciated :D


	5. Numb and cursed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im sick, send some kudos and comments :((((

Baekhyun could feel the softness of the wool blanket he had over him and the pillow under his head. Was all the horse riding a dream? Was he still in Palace?

It can’t be, his legs and back were still aching from all the hurried trip to the Dark Woods, the Prince opened his eyes carefully, worried about someone watching him in his sleep, and even more worried about opening them and finding that all was a dream, about opening his eyes and finding himself inside his bedroom To his surprise, there was no one, only him, in a small and stuffed wood cabin.

He was in a small cabinet in the Dark Woods, probably, since the view from the window across the small stance was full of trees and greenery. The bed, a fireplace, a sink, two armchairs and some tables full of books, some glass containers, wax stains and candles of all sizes and colors were the only decoration of the cabin.  
It wasn’t clean, but it wasn’t untidy either, and it seemed that the person living here has been in the woods for quite some time. It was chaotic, probably it had some meaning to the person living there, so Baekhyun didn't touch anything. He was skeptical about the whole situation, but, if the owner of the place had actually saved him he didn't want to be rude.

He got up from the bed and checked all of his clothes, he was dressed and wearing his shoes, but there was no trace of his black cape and his bundle. He decided to go outside in search of his horse, to find the woods silence as his only reward.  
Exasperation started growing inside his chest, should he go back inside and wait for his savior or should he leave without his horse or belongings.  
Baekhyun decided to first look around the area of the cabinet,he wouldn't go far without his bundle and he wouldn't be fast without his horse, the small house was in the middle of a clear, at the feet of the mountain, it was a cold morning, and only birds and some water running near could be heard.

Water, Baekhyun realized, the feet of the mountain, around of the Dark Woods is plenty of lakes and ponds, he decided to head where the sound was coming from.  
At first the sound seemed far, but the Prince walked between the trees to get faster, walking and walking he got to the lake and the gigantic waterfall at the side of the mountain that fed the lake with pristine water. Baekhyun saw no one near the water so he approached himself to take a sip, his mouth was completely dry. A second after he swallowed the water a woman voice talked to him.

 _“Good morning”_ \- she said with a voice like velvet - _“I’m glad that you are alive and can walk”_

Baekhyun turned himself to find a beautiful woman, a long black braid hanging from her left shoulder, dressed in simple, plain white clothes, smiling at him dearly. Baekhyun nodded and smiled to her.

 _“Are you the owner of the cabinet?”_ \- Baekhyun asked.

 _“Yes, that's were I live”_ \- the woman sat on a rock near the clear blue water. - “ _What is a Prince doing in the Dark Woods?”_ \- she asked straight to the point.

Baekhyun face cursed his dramatic personality for wearing the white suit into this adventure, ‘how poetic’ he had thought, more like ‘how dumb’. He sighed.

 _“Did you guessed by my clothes?”_ \- The Prince asked wanting to take off his clothes - _“I guess they stand out”_ \- Baekhyun was a bit flustered about being discovered, he wondered if the woman would keep his secret.

The lady laughed, her laugh was almost music, entrancing. She was indeed beautiful, Baekhyun thought, what could be doing such a beautiful woman in the woods alone. Maybe she was a runaway too.

“ _Yes, usually I don't get to see many people around here, and even less people dressed that rich”_ \- she smiled warmly - _“I’m Joohyun”_

 _“My name is Baekhyun”_ \- he looked away - _“Prince of Lux as you have guessed”_ \- Baekhyun did a reverence and she answered like any noble would do. They both laughed.

_“I was born in Lux, you know.”_

_“The Dark Woods are on Lux, too…_ ”- Baekhyun said with a tiny voice.

 _“That's not true, the Dark Woods are property of no one, they are wild, obscure…Magical.”_ \- she had a weird look in her eyes, they gleamed - “ _And I have the privilege to be it's only habitant”_

 _“What?”_ \- Joohyun’s eyes were hypnotizing, but the more Baekhyun looked inside of them, the more his head hurt, he was feeling numb but at the same time aching and all this nonsense chat about the Woods wasn't helping at all.  
Joohyun looked at him the way an eagle looks at its prey, superior, confident, now the Prince understood what the gleam in her eyes was, it was malice.

 _“I’m going to repeat the question, Byun Baekhyun, Prince of Lux”_ \- she said getting up and approaching - _“what are you doing in my woods?”_

 _“I…”_ \- talking was being a difficult task for Baekhyun at the moment, words wouldn’t come out and his head only hurt more - _“I ran… away”_ \- he managed to say, the pressure inside his skull worsening.

 _“You ran away from Palace?”_ \- she looked caught by surprise - _“Why?”_

 _“My parents, they want me to marry the Prince of Fulgur but I don't want to”_ \- Baekhyun felt like his head was going to explode when Joohyun touched his forehead lightly, her hand was feeling cold and healing, the moment she got her hand out of his forehead the pain had disappeared.

_“How did you…”_

_“Have you ever heard about a witch living in the woods”_ \- she smiled warmly again, but something about that warmth was feeling completely fake. - “ _Come with me, I have something to show you.”_

Baekhyun followed her inside the small wood cabin, leaving the lake behind, feeling exhausted from all the pain in his head and legs, he wasn’t as adventurous as he thought…

 _“I don't live here because I want to”_ \- Joohyun explained herself - _“A long time ago, a King expelled me from the Kingdom of Lux”_

 _“A King?”_ \- Baekhyun asked.

 _“That's what I said”_ \- she was looking at the fire down the fireplace instead of facing Baekhyun - “ _It was your grandfather.”_

She threw some herbs and plants to the fire and it exploded inside the fireplace, just a second after the smoke started forming figures in the air that told a story. Blue, violet and red figures started appearing on the cabinet’s ceiling.

 _“Your grandfather”_ \- she said pointing at a male figure in the smoke - _“and I”_ \- she continued pointing at herself in the ceiling theatre.

 _“We were together for quite a time. I had no desires of being a Queen or something, I could have been happy if he just… if just kept me by his side.”_ \- The two figures in the smoke were hugging each other, walking together, smiling together… just like every other young couple would do, the smoke wasn’t displaying just some faces at random, the images were so clear, so defined, his grandfather image was exactly like a painting his father had on the Main Dining Room, the same rascal smile he remembered seeing in him even when his granfather was old - _“But his fate was to be a King, so he married, a noble woman from another Kingdom and they had three healthy children. One of them is your father, but I guess that you know how that things work”_ \- All the figures he had mentioned disappeared from the air with an elegant movement from her hand, including the one of his father. The moment Baekhyun saw him his cheek and pride hurt more than his legs or head.

 _“Where does that story left you?”_ \- Baekhyun wanted to know.

 _“Here.”_ \- the next figure was the exact representation of the cabinet they were in. - _“In a cabinet in the middle of nowhere, alone, angry and neglected._ ” - Human figures appeared again on the air surrounding the small room. _“Your grandfather couldn’t keep the promise he made to me. His promise to love me. He loved more his position and his new wife. So he expelled me from the Kingdom, and had some sages to cast spells on this place so I couldn’t leave this place.”_

She deleted the figures, and looked at Baekhyun.

 _“But, you look so young”_ \- Baekhyun managed to say.

 _“A witch has her ways”_ \- she told him with a hint of pride. “ _And now, the fate smiles upon me for the first time in decades.”_

She touched Baekhyun's face softly, exactly where his father had slapped him. Baekhyun wanted to get out of there as soon as he could, but the witch was using some of her magic to hammer his feet down the wooden ground.

 _“My poor sweet Prince, the only thing you wanted was to choose for your own, isn’t that true?”_ \- she asked cunningly, her eyes gleaming in a supernatural way, the headache started growing again - _“All the habitants from the Kingdom will call you childish, they will say that you are not fitted. But what they will know, they can make choices freely, not like you, always tied.”_

Baekhyun was terrified. Not only because his feet were unresponsive to him and a greater force was tying him, but because everything she was saying was true. And it was making his heart ache.

 _“Then”_ \- she stopped caresing Baekhyun's face to grab his chin in a more menacing way - _“Don't you want, as much as I do, to see the whole Castle of Lux burn into pieces?”_

Her face turned ugly, she was no longer beautiful or young, she looked like a complete monster just according with the things she was saying. Her body was bigger, and inside his eyes was no trace of a human being, it was like looking into hell.

Her nails pinned into Baekhyun flesh leaving a mark in his face. He revolved his legs trying to get away but she was way stronger. The Prince realized that his arms weren’t enchanted, so he grabbed some cristal glass and broke it into Joohyun’s head.  
Joohyun stepped a little back from the impact, but soon she started laughing.

  
“No!” - he shouted trying to get out of the cabinet - _“I’ll. never. I won't help you. I ran away, I didn't want to marry but that doesn't mean that I want them dead!”_

Joohyun looked disappointed, she crossed her arms, and with the movement of a single finger pinned Baekhyun to the wall, making his back ache even more. She approached slowly with blood dripping from her forehead, making her look even scarier and menacing.

“ _I was being kind, It is really naive of you to think that if you refuse I’ll let you go away or that your refusal will stop me”_ \- she smiled, her dark eyes gleaming with a golden light - _“You are just a coward, just like your grandfather, afraid of doing what It's needed to be done, scum to the world.”_

Baekhyun felt a rage running inside of him, there was no words to explain. how much he hated her, so he spitted on her face.

_“It’s my family what you are talking about, witch”_

_“That bravery… you must have gotten it from women in your family”_ \- she smiled cleaning herself.

“ _Maybe my grandfather got bored of that awful attitude you have”_ \- Joohyun laughed at the answer.

“ _Listen, coward Prince”_ \- the witch informed Baekhyun - _“I would gladly kill you and have some ravens bring your head to your parents, but that would be no joy after all.”_ \- she opened her left hand and Baekhyun flew through the room, his neck heavily grabbed by said hand.

_“The spells to incarcerate me in this woods are weakening day by day, and soon I’ll able to get out of here”_ \- she talked slowly - “ _But I don’t just want to leave this place and have some boring life as a peasant somewhere. That's what you wanted don't you? How funny that I want what you have by right. Exactly, now I want the throne. Now I want the whole Kingdom. And you, my beautiful coward, are going to help me, even if you don’t want to“_ \- she used her powers once again to threw Baekhyun through the window, his back already aching was now full of cristals that made him bleed, staining his white suit.

Joohyun was looking at him pitifully, Baekhyun was already sobbing in pain, but even so, trying to get out of there.

 _“What a shame”_ \- Joohyun said looking at him - _“That white suit was really beautiful… so white, and your silver hair, so matching”_ \- she walked alongside him, heading to the lake.

 _“You know what else you match perfectly and it's also white, and no one pay attention to them here because there are plenty of them?”_ \- she asked with a big grin on her face.

Baekhyun saw the magic floating in the air, from her mouth and fingers until it reached him. He closed his eyes and waited, waited until everything had passed. Until he could stop feeling anything.

_“ A swan.”_


	6. Short encounters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> last update before 2019!  
> I hope you all had a great 2018 and that New Year is even better <3
> 
> thank you for reading me this year and I hope you keep reading during 2019

A swan so white that its feathers gleamed silver while swimming alone in a crystal clear lake. A swan so white that when it flies across the sky every cloud looks grey.

The sun hides behind the mountain that gives home to the lake and the moon shines in the starry night. The satellite reflects itself on the water surface and the beautiful swan places its figure in said reflection.

Tiny waves start forming around the Moon reflection, and meanwhile other swans, ducks and birds that live nearby get scared with the water movements, the silver one just remains inside the reflection. Waiting.

The swan opens its big and snow-white wings when the water from the lake tries to swallow it. Silver sparkles, water and feathers is all one could see from outside the ritual of magic that has place every night at this lake.

When the waters calm there is no more swan, a human figure emerges from the waters, dressed in white. Baekhyun is more than used to the ritual, to the one that brings him his human body and the one that gives him feathers. But if he is not at the lake for this second appointment, his body will vanish. Human and swan, dead.

Baekhyun does his everyday routine, sits at the side of the lake, stretches his body, starts a tiny bonfire and sighs loudly. It’s been already two years since he got here, since that witch cursed him, she comes comes from time to time, but Baekhyun refuses to call that “keeping company to someone”. Mostly because she is the one that got him in this situation and what he wants is to kill her with his own hands. Or wings.

Probably his beak will be more effective.

Sometimes, during mornings he flies away from the lake. Even two years later towns and cities are full of posters with his face. But they haven’t found him, and they never will. Baekhyun isn't able to recognise himself on those posters anymore. They used an old photo of him, shorter hair, and a big bright smile on his face. He knows that photo perfectly, it was Jongdae's birthday, they were so full of cake and champagne that happiness was the only emotion possible. It's been a while since Baekhyun felt like that. He had seen his parents and sister. Sometimes he flies to the castle and rests at the pond at the Royal Gardens. As human that rtavel would take him too much, so he has no toher choice but to go as a swan. The initial sadness has left, as he did, but there are no traces of the once happy Lux Castle, all Baekhyun sees when he gets to see his mother sat ath the Gardens is an empty expression and regrets. He hasn't seen his father ever again, locked inside the Palace.  
When he wants to see something that lifts up his mood he travels to Fulgur to see Jongdae. One good thing about being a swan is the ability to fly, distances that will take him days now take him hours, and the views are surely outstanding.

Jongdae has changed, he also has that grim feeling around him, like his mother, and that’s something that Baekhyun isn’t going to ever forgive himself for. But, at least, Jongdae listened to him in his last letter, he got to confess to his northern Prince. Minseok is now living in Fulgur with him, and when they both are together Jongdae smiles with all his body, truly happy. Baekhyun couldn’t ask for more.

Baekhyun was lost in thoughts when he heard some noise behind him, probably that crazy witch with more lies to tell so he just shouted dry:

_“Go away, I don't have the mood to hear you”_

_“Oh. Okay. I just wanted some directions.”_

Baekhyun literally jumped from the cold ground when he heard the masculine voice talking behind of him. He hasn’t talked to anyone (besides the witch) in two years.

 _“Nonononono”_ \- Baekhyun said almost running, trying to stop the stranger. - “ _I thought you were… I thought you were another person.”_

The other boy was taller than him, and even if Baekhyun couldn’t tell much about him with the dim light he was aching for another human to talk to him.  
The tall boy laughs, and Baekhyun could swear that he cried inside hearing that.

 _“I got awfully lost, and it's so dark… so I saw your fire from a distance and came here”_ \- he sounded so innocent.

 _“Come sit with me”_ \- Baekhyun offered. The stranger agreed and tied his horse to a near tree before sitting with the cursed Prince.

Baekhyun was beyond excited to be sitting with another person. When the other man sitted near the fire, Baekhyun couldn’t believe his eyes.  
The uniform, the golden details, the medals. It was a noble, and Baekhyun could recognize the emblem on the medal he was wearing on the right side of his chest; the Royal Crest of Igneus. The tall man noticed Baekhyun looking at the medal, so he rushed to introduce himself.

 _“My name is Park Chanyeol, Prince of Igneus”_ \- he bowed lightly and sitted again with a lovely expression a mix of shyness and maybe shame for not introducing himself before.  
Baekhyun then introduced himself, just like that, just like Baekhyun, no Prince, no Lux mentioned.

 _“So…”_ \- Baekhyun tried to talk - “ _You got lost, your Highness.”_

 _“Please, just Chanyeol”_ \- he smiled politely. Baekhyun didn't know if it was the fire, but he swears that he saw the red haired Prince blush from cheeks to ears. - _“I’m invited to a wedding but at this rate I won’t make it in time..:”_ \- he looked exhausted.

 _“Shouldn’t a Prince travel with a lot of pages, servants and guards?”_ \- Baekhyun asked with a lifted eyebrow. Chanyeol sighed deeply.

 _“We were taking a break and I told them to keep going, that I wanted to hunt for a while, but I got lost in some woods. I have a talent for getting lost, you know?”_ \- he laughed a bit and Baekhyun smiled. It has been a while since Baekhyun felt lightness inside his heart. Baekhyun wanted to keep that feeling inside his heart forever, it gave him wings, in a metaphorical sense this time.

“ _You are near the Dark Woods”_ \- Baekhyun showed him the gigantic amount of trees behind them - _“As long as you don’t enter there you’ll be fine.”_

Chanyeol nodded, and smiled brightly. Chanyeol then proceed to explain how he got lost. He was clearly nervous, and even if the man was talkative in a normal situation, Baekhyun could felt that under pressure he talked and gestured a lot, making his already big body look bigger, But, oh, he laughed everytime Baekhyun made a joke or a remak about his story like he hadn't heard anything funnier in his life, and Baekhyun couldn't help himself to think that he hand't, probably, ever heard a laugh so sweet like that one. Even if everytime he laughed he had to punch Baekhyun on the arm or applaud. Baekhyun felt a pinch inside his heart. Igniu’s Prince was handsome, angular face and broad shoulders made him look regal, fitted into his uniform, but his bright eyes and outstanding ears gave him a young look, plus his smile, so sincere and contagious… Baekhyun hoped that he wasn’t attending his own wedding.

 _“And…”_ \- Chanyeol’s deep voice was on again - _“What are you doing here alone?”_

 _“Oh”_ \- Baekhyun had to though a excuse quickly - _“I just.. live nearby. I come here often when I can’t sleep or I want to be by my own.”_

_“I’m sorry, then. If I have interrupted your alone moment.”_

_“Don’t worry”_ \- Baekhyun smiled fondly - “ _And, what about that wedding you are attending, Prince?”._

 _“Chanyeol”_ \- he corrected, smiling. - _“A Royal wedding in Fulgur. You haven’t heard? Every single royal family will be attending.”_

 _“I guess not. I haven’t got my invitation.”_ \- Both Princes laughed - " _Who is getting wed?"_

 _“The Princes of Fulgur and Nix”_ \- Chanyeol answered once he stopped laughing.

Baekhyun jumped from the floor so hard that he almost fell into the fire, but thanks to Chanyeol quick reaction he only fell over Chanyeol.

 _“Jongdae is getting married?!”_ \- Baekhyun shouted.

 _“Yes!”_ \- Chanyeol didn’t know why but he shouted too.

Baekhyun didn’t even realize that he was all over Chanyeol, but Chanyeol did notice, he got up and walked over the lake, in his own world. Chanyeol, a blushing mess followed him with his eyes, and after a while approached the lake too. Chanyeol, at first, thought of only asking directions and leave back to camp, but once he looked at Baekhyun close something inside of him told him to stay. Baekhyun was outstanding, in every way, witty and clever, and had a cute laugh that made Chanyeol wish to be funnier so he could hear it often. But he looked sad, alone, like he had been forgotten, that was what made Chanyeol stay, something in his brain yelled that it wasn't right. That was why he was following that man, he had just met for the first time, alongside the lake. Something wasn't okay.

 _“Do you know him?”_ \- Chanyeol asked, trying not to upset Baekhyun - “ _The Prince I mean”_

 _“Yes”_ \- Baekhyun answered. _“But it was a long time ago.”_

Chanyeol didn’t know if Baekhyun was sad or just in his own world, but inside of him, his heart was burning with the need of giving the short man a hug. So, he just did. Chanyeol might be a Prince, and he might've been educated as one, but he couldn'y help himself when this kind of feelings bloomed inside. If, after, something was yelling "wrong" now the same thing was yelling "right". Baekhyun was at first surprised, and after that he found comfort inside Chanyeol’s big arms. It was warn, it was cozy, it was all those things that Baekhyun hasn’t felt in two years long. Chanyeol's arms felt made to his exact size. The hug felt like home.

When Chanyeol broke their hug, he looked at Baekhyun.

 _“Are you better?”_ \- he asked.

Baekhyun nodded.

 _“I wasn’t sad.”_ \- Baekhyun sighed. - _“I wasn’t sad about Jongdae marrying Minseok, I was just sad because I’m not going to be there.”_

A silence came, only the wind moving leaves and branches of the near trees and the waterfall filled the air. Until Chanyeol spoke.

 _“I have the feeling that you are not just some guy”_ \- It wasn’t exactly a question but Chanyeol’s eyes demanded an answer.

Baekhyun wanted to tell him, because everything in Chanyeol was showing him that he was good, trustworthy. But he wouldn’t believe him. Nobody would. When some Royal troops of Lux found Baekhyun’s horse and belongings near the Dark Woods everyone gave him for dead, just like that. Gone forever. But the truth wanted to get out, his story wanted to get out, creeping all his way throught Baekhyun's throat, he really really wanted to tell Chanyeol. He can't. He can't drag such a pure, beautiful person to all this big problem of his. So he lied.

 _“Maybe you are right.”_ \- Baekhyun said, and started walking towards the woods, the Moon was leaving the lake.

 _“Where are you going?”_ \- Chanyeol asked, looking as a kicked puppy.

 _“I told you I live nearby”_ \- Baekhyun kept walking. - _“Don’t follow, there is a witch living in this woods, and has quite the character”_ \- Baekhyun blinked an eye to Chanyeol trying to sound funny.

 _“Baekhyun…”_ \- Chanyeol tried to call.

“ _Oh, don’t worry about being lost, by the way”_ \- Baekhyun turned himself one more time to look at the handsome Prince of Igneus - “ _Tomorrow… tomorow just follow the silver swan.”_ \- It was the last thing the cursed boy told to the Prince of Igneus giving him a tiny smile.

As soon as he entered the woods, he run to the water, trying not to make a sound in case Chanyeol decided to follow him.  
The Moon reflection was almost completely gone when, just in time Baekhyun got a foot inside the lake and turned into a swan. He swam over the place where he had left Chanyeol and he could see the tall Prince looking at him, but not seeing him at all.

Because all that the Prince of Igneus saw was a silver feathered swan.


	7. Wings of hope

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First upload in 2019!
> 
> Thank you all for the kudos and comments, I was very doubtful, at first, about this story, but I'm glad that some of you are liking it.

Chanyeol woke up next morning with the first lights and the chill fog that covered the lake, it was a completely different view from the lake at night, but breathtaking anyway. The tiny fire still had some hot coals, so he extinguished them first thing.  
The lake was full of life at mornings, he spotted some frogs, birds and ducks, and some fishes making some tiny waves while swimming near the surface, it was a pleasant, peaceful view. But there was no trace of any sweet faced boy. Just thinking about Baekhyun made Chanyeol blush a little, he was handsome, not in the typical way, his features were soft, and his silver hair only accentuated them more, like the way his eyes fall a little on the outside corners. The Prince of Igneus was tempted to wait until noon to see if the boy would appear, but at the same time Chanyeol knew that he must to go because, at this rate, his parents might be really concerned and delaying his departure from the lake would only make him arrive later ro the wedding.

Chanyeol dusted off his clothes a little and cleaned his face by the lake. That’s when he saw the silver feathered swan again. Just floating on the lake like some illusion, it didn’t look real, not like the other swans at the lake.  
At this point he remembered what Baekhyun told him last night, that a silver feathered swan would guide him in the morning. Without thinking it twice, Chanyeol untied his horse and rode it, giving a look and a shy nood to the swan.

 _“I must be crazy”_ \- he mumbled - _“I’m talking to a swan.”_

To his surprise the swan opened his big wings and started flying, Chanyeol couldn't help himself and a loud laugh came from his throat, Baekhyun was right, the swan was… actually guiding him.  
Following the swan was easier said than done, sometimes it flew way to high and others way to fast, and even if it was a big animal, between trees and rocks it was easy losing it. At times like this Chanyeol would only stop his horse and wait, because everytime the swan would come back and wait for him to follow, gently. After a while, when Chanyeol and his winged guide reached some local roads, the Prince of Igneus could even tell that the swan was teasing him, flying near the horse and hiding behind trees.

When the roads started to appear more clean and the stones at the pavement more even, Chanyeol recognized the Royal Highway, the path that connects Fulgur and Lux;

 _“You don’t need to keep going”_ \- Chanyeol shouted to the swan - _“I can follow the path from here.”_

Chanyeol didn’t expect an answer from the swan, a loud caw, as if it was saying “you’ll get lost again”, the Prince could only laugh from the answer, and kept folllowing the swan, admiring his beautiful silver feathers that glowed under the noon Sun like the marvelous Moon he watched over the lake last night with Baekhyun. The tall Prince sighed deeply, and kept following without looking back.

Even if he didn't want to look back he could feel how he had left something back at the lake, something that he would never have back.

Some hours later, at last, the tall and mighty Fortress of Fulgur was showing behind some tall pine woods and mountains, an impressive view of an impressive building, more built to keep the enemies away than for aesthetical reasons, but beautiful in it's own way, and Chanyeol breathed , relieved, he was arriving in time for the event and hopefully he will find some guards that will announce his incoming on the way. He made his horse stop in the middle of the road until the swan realized that the Prince was not following him, so the bird had to come back and stop.

 _“Thank you so much”_ \- Chanyeol talked to the swan, not really knowing what he was doing at all - _“I don’t know how do you thank a swan, or any animal, honestly”_ \- he laughed a bit - _“But without you I coudn’t make it, at least not in time for the wedding.”_

The animal and the Prince fell in some sort of silence, right then more horses in the distance could be heard. Some road guards with Fulgur shiny banners were patrolling the way.

 _“You can come back now”_ \- Chanyeol said looking at the guards, and a second before he turned his gaze again to the swan - _“I don’t know if you can understand me, but I know that Baekhyun sent you, somehow. Please, thank him. And tell him that I would never forget him.”_ \- Chanyeol smiled to the bird and made his horse move again towards the guards.

When he looked back the magical silver feathered swan was already gone.

Baekhyun could not explain how miserable he was feeling. The Moon took his feathers from him and gave him back his body, but the Prince of Lux was not feeling his limbs at all, he was numb, with a void inside that only growed more. Baekhyun fell over his own knees and started crying, giving himself a hug, with his feet still on the water. How beautiful his laugh sounds, how handsome Chanyeol looked when following him, the naïve look he has when getting lost, how beautifully his red like fire hair glows under the sun. How kind his words were. How easily he took his heart.

_“I would never forget you either, Chanyeol”._

─── ❖ ── ✦ ── ❖ ─── 

Not everyday the throne heir gets married, that was something they knew at Fulgur capital. The city was completely covered in flowers, banners from Nix and Fulgur and the guards were all wearing their most shiny and flashy armors, even the ones that left their positions in order to celebrate a little with some wine or beer. The people from every class and corner, from both Kingdoms, were celebrating, eating, dancing and drinking in every square and bar you could find across the Capital. It was, for sure, a National Celebration.

The ceremony was short, but the guest list and the banquet weren’t. Every guest looked jolly and full of good wishes for the new couple, exactly like a wedding should be. Both of them dressed in white, holding his hands at every moment of the party, like they didn’t have the rest of their lives to do it. Almost the only moment they left each others hands were when Minseok stood up to say some words about their future together and their hopes.

And every guest swears that they saw Jongdae crying.

After eating during hours, and losing count of how many flamboyant dishes they had, a more private party was being held at the gardens of the Royal Palace, only for those more close to the couple, a more young party. Chanyeol was a bit tipsy already, Minseok insisted on serving him more and more wine, probably knowing that his tolerance was very low compared to himself. He was having fun, he looked at his reflection inside the biggest pond in the garden, he was wearing his most formal attire, burgundy with golden ornaments and the crest of the Igneus family, it suited him, made his body more built, and made him feel more royal. While looking at himself he realized the Moon in the pond.

Was Baekhyun sitting at the lake? Thinking about this very wedding? Was the alcohol making him feel weird?. Yes, to that last one, yes.

Minseok approached him, and Chanyeol reaction was to cover his glass with his free hand.

 _“No more wine please!”_ \- Minseok laughed loudly.

 _“I come in peace! I swear!”_ \- he approached more and gave Chanyeol a pat in his back. - _“Did you got this tall to see something in the woods when you get lost?”_ \- MInseok asked being a bit of a smartass.

Chanyeol faked a laugh.

 _“Does Jongdae have to kneel to kiss you, gnome?”_ \- Chanyeol answered while sipping some wine from his glass.

 _“He kneels to do other things, virgin”_ \- and Chanyeol spit all of the wine that was in his mouth.

They both laughed hard, Igneus and Nix families have good relationships and both of them have been friends for a long time. For Chanyeol, Minseok is like an older cousin he can always relay on.

 _“You look a bit off”_ \- Minseok sighed - _“Are you okay?”_

Chanyeol just nodded, but his mind was at the lake.

 _“You don’t have to tell me”_ \- Minseok kept telling - _“But, you know, it’s my fucking wedding. And it’s pretty rude of you to come here and…”_

 _“Okay, okay”_ \- Chanyeol put his free hand over Minseok’s mouth - _“But you can’t laugh at me.”_

MInseok nodded and looked really curious to his tall friend.

 _“When...I got lost yesterday… I met a guy”_ \- Chanyeol explained while playing with his fingers on the wine glass - “ _He was so… weird. But weird in the cool way, you know? Like he had some secret, some aura around him that drives you in… and while I was talking to him…”_

 _“You two had a heated moment in the woods?”_ \- Minseok asked lifting his brows in a funny way owning himself a glare from Chanyeol - “ _Okay, finish the story”_ \- Minseok corrected himself.

 _“While I was talking to him”_ \- Chanyeol started again - _“He just… vanished. I told him that I was lost and all he did was smile at me, a really sad smile, and told me that a silver feathered swan will guide me until here the next morning.”_

The both Princes fell silent, Chanyeol because was thinking about Baekhyun and Minseok because he didn’t want to laugh. In that second Jongdae entered the scene, leaving some other guests with a bright smile and a laugh inside his throat.

 _“What are you guys doing here?”_ \- the other groom asked - “ _Planning to take my handsome groom?”_ .- Jongdae leant to kiss Minseok while the second giggled.

 _“Please, be my guest, have all of him”_ \- Chanyeol gestured to the sweet couple.

 _“Chanyeol was telling me about some random guy he met in a lake”_ \- Minseok summarized to his husband.

 _“So you were not lost, uh..:”_ \- Jongade moved his brows in the same funny way than Minseok a while after, but with his characteristic smile, this time Jongdae owned a deep sigh from Chanyeol.

 _“It was nothing sexual”_ \- Chanyeol almost shouted, with his face completely red - “ _It’s just..that I would want to see him again.”_

Jongdae and Minseok looked at each other.

 _“And what’s stopping you from doing it?”_ \- Jongdae simply asked. Chanyeol looked at him, how he could explain himself about the feeling that he has bottled up inside.

 _“You said something about a swan”_ \- Minseok remembered suddenly.

 _“Ah, he said that a silver swan would appear in the morning and guide me here”_ \- the newly wed couple looked at Chanyeol like he was crazy, to be honest he sounded a bit crazy to himself even - _“I mean, it did, the bird appeared.”_

The silence between them grew uncomfortable until Jongdae dared to speak.

 _“Yeol”_ \- he started with a soft voice - _“Did you eat something weird at the woods”_

 _“I am talking seriously, Baekhyun told me that it will happen and it happened, I couldn’t believe it either”_ \- Chanyeol was starting to get nervous, speaking really fast, he only stopped when he noticed the change on his friends faces.

 _“Who?”_ \- Jongdae asked

_“No, Jongdae, It’s a common name, moreover in Lux”_

_“Chanyeol, who was with you at the lake”_ \- this wasn’t a question. It was more of a command.

 _“Baekhyun. A boy named Baekhyun._ ”

 _“I need to know where is this lake you are talking about”_ \- Jongdae demanded again.

 _“KIm Jongdae”_ \- Minseok interrupted with a stern voice - _“You are not doing this to yourself again, and you are not doing it in our wedding night. Period.”_

Both Chanyeol and Jongdae fell silent, Minseok wasn’t joking at all, his good, festive mood was gone and Chanyeol didn’t really understand why Jongdae got like this from nowhere. Jongdae looked at Minseok and mumbled a soft “Sorry” before getting out of the conversation.

Minseok sighed.

 _“Don’t take it personal”_ \- the groom took a long sip from his glass - _“It’s still hard for him.”_

 _“What are you talking about?”_ ´- Chanyeol was confused and afraid to ask.

 _“Baekhyun”_ \- MInseok looked like only his body was there, his mind was travelling, off - _“Baekhyun was the name of Jongdae’s best friend, the Prince of Lux.”_

 _“I didn’t know the name of the Missing Prince”_ \- The Princes of Igneus was a bit embarrased now.

 _“I mean, It’s a popular name in Lux, so you could have met just some guy with that name and that it’s totally fine”_ \- Minseok was trying to cheer Chanyeol up - “ _But everytime Jongdae hears that name something inside of him jumps. He feels guilty, he thinks that everything is his fault.”_

_“If I knew I would never..:”_

_“Don’t apologize and tell me more about this boy in the woods”_ \- said Minseok blinking.

 _“In fact, there was something we talked about… “ -_ Chanyeol sighed - _“It was probably nothing but I kept having the feeling that he was not only some guy that lived nearby…_ ” - The Prince of Igneus looked at the Prince of Nix with a mixture of feelings - _“I think he knew the two of you.”_

_“What do you mean?”_

_“I told him that I was coming to your wedding and then he got so… happy. Not happy like the people in your countries get happy for you, happy like a true friend.” -_ The taller tried to explain.

_“That sounds weird…”_

_“I mean, he said some things like “I’m happy for them, but I’m sad that I won't be there” and such”_ \- Chanyeol was fidgeting with his fingers, nervous about what may Minseok be thinking.

But Minseok said nothing. His cat eyes were looking far from the Fortress, his mind already travelling, to to other places, to other times.

_“Where did you say it was that lake, Chanyeol.”_

Chanyeol hesitated, now Minseok was weird.

_“Near the Dark Woods, at the bottom of the Blue Mountains… why?”_

_“Baekhyun’s horse…”_ \- Minseok mumbled softly, his face turned hard, facing Chanyeol - _“Chanyeol. I need you to be pretty clear with me_ ”- Minseok grabbed Chanyeol’s arm strongly, making Chanyeol really near his face.

_“Tell me how was this guy, hair color, clothes, eyes, stature, everything.”_

_“Around the same height as you, silver hair, brown eyes a bit down in the cornes, fair skin, slender,... he has a mole in his upper lip… I don’t know what else to say, Minseok you are making me nervous.”_ \- Chanyeol speaked fast and tried to get free from Minseok’s grab, but the Nix Prince freed him anyway, he even let go his wine glass.

 _“It can’t be. Too many coincidences… It can’t be.”_ \- he said with his hand on his head while biting his inferior lip. _“We need to tell Jongdae right now.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now I see it, this chapter was long xD


	8. New moon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're near the end, so maybe I'll be a bit slower with the updates trying to get the best of this.  
> As always, thanks to all of you for reading and leaving all those loveable comments ♥

Minseok had wished for a serene honeymoon with Jongdae alone in some far away beach, drinking cocktails, eating delicious food, discovering new places…

Instead he got a quick camping trip to a lake in Lux, with Jongdae and Chanyeol to search for some boy that might be Baekhyun, the Lost Prince of Lux.

To be honest, he was thrilled, as much as the other two were, there was fair chances that they found Baekhyun after all these years, but, in his opinion, the night of his wedding was not the best moment for this. Minseok sighed with a smile on his face, “after all, Baekhyun has always been a diva”, he thought.

The three Princes left Fulgur the very next morning, it was a shock for everyone that the grooms were not leaving for their honeymoon, and even more shocking that they were having Chanyeol as their third wheel, they tried to leave the royal capital of Fulgur in the most discreet way, but anyway nobles and regular people gossiped through all the Kingdom, there were even rumours about Chanyeol being the lover of one of the grooms and such.

Leaving the gossip aside, Jongdae and Minseok followed Chanyeol through the path the swan showed to him a few days after, inside of Chanyeol’s mind was the constant fear about getting lost or not remembering the way correctly, and of course the fear of not finding Baekhyun. What was going to happen if they got to the lake but the silver haired boy never returned? The idea was starting to feel like a knot pressing his lungs and not letting him breath, he needed to find Baekhyun again because he couldn’t forget about the little sadness in his smile during his brief night together, but above that he couldn’t forget about wanting to erase that sadness from his smile.

If I were to tell you that the trip the lake went completely uneventful that would be a lie, at some point Chanyeol got confused about the road and without noticing they undid some of the way they had traveled already, they did some stops along they way to eat and rest too, and, next day they got to the lake. they even had to sleep on the road, which wasn't very royal or very honeymoon like.

It was exactly as Chanyeol described it to them, an enormous pristine lake at the feet of the mountain, full of life and vegetation. But not trace of the silver haired boy.

 _“He said that he comes here sometimes at night”_ \- Chanyeol mumbled - “ _Maybe we should wait for a while”_

Jongdae and Minseok nodded while looking for a nice place to leave their horses and start a little camp. They decided to settle near some trees, a bit far from the waters but close enough to see if someone was alongside the lake. All nights are dark, but under new moon, nights are even darker. The three Princes were chatting lightly with the only company of the shining stars aboce their head, wondering when the mysterious boy would appear.

 _“Maybe we should lit a bigger fire”_ \- said Jongdae stuffing his cold hands inside Minseok clothes - “ _I’m freezing.”_

 _“Nothing compared to Nix winters”_ \- Minseok chuckled.

 _“Remember me to visit your parents in summer”_ \- they joked.

The lighthearted feeling soon dissapeared when the boys heard some noise at the lake. Chanyeol made a sign to put out the fire and Minseok threw a bucket of water over it, leaving them almost blind in the dark. When their eyes grew used to the darkness Jongdae moved to the front, his hand on the handle of his sword, and his eyes fixated to the lake. That’s when Chanyeol realized completely how important this was for Jongdae, how much he cared. But he only got a glimpse of how much Jongdae lost the day Baekhyun left Lux. To Jongdae it was a chapter of his life that he couldn’t close, he was living with a ghost inside of his head, the ghost of Baekhyun. He needed answers and he will not hesitate to get them.

The ground near the lake was full of tiny round peebles that sent out a soft faint sound when someone was walking over them, that was exactly the sound on their ears, and on the other side, water. The sound of water in movement. Chanyeol looked over the waters to see where the second sound was from, and to his surprise, the silver swan appeared.  
Chanyeol made a signal to Jongdae and Minseok to look at the swan, by their faces they couldn’t believe their own eyes, and a glimmer of hope appeared inside Jongdae’s heart. If the silver swan was real, this Baekhyun might be his Baekhyun.

They soon returned their gazes to the footsteps. A slim figure, completely dressed in black, or at least a color near black, was the origin of the footsteps. Said figure got near the shore, and waited for the swan to get near.

 _“It’s not him”_ \- Chanyeol whispered - _“It’s not Baekhyun.”_

 _“Are you sure?”_ \- Minseok asked, also whispering.

Chanyeol just nodded while looking at Minseok when it happened. A bright white light appeared. It shined like if the Moon was inside the lake, the silver swan opened his wings and let the water consume its figure, and a few seconds later what came from the lake was no other than Baekhyun dressed in full white.

Jongdae gasped, he wanted to go running into Baekhyun but Minseok and Chanyeol stopped him from doing it. They were trying to be quiet but with all the emotions Jongdae had inside bottled up it was difficult, the figure and Baekhyun looked on their direction, but thanks to the absence of the Moon they could see nothing.

The three Princes were too far to hear what they were saying, but the grim figure tried to grab Baekhyun by the arm and he rejected it, making the other figure yell at him. They were in bad terms, that was clear, and then the figure used its magic again to throw Baekhyun into the waters and transform him into a swan once again. And after a while, the figure left.

When the figure and the swan left, Minseok let go of his husband, that was tightly embraced to stop him from calling Baekhyun or to run into him. Even now that Jongdae was free and they were alone again they didn’t know what to do or to say, it was a lot to process, the trip only caused more questions, but above all, Baekhyun was alive. And a swan.

Minseok was the first of them to wake from the weird dream they were having, and made the others wake too. They decided to call it a night and sleep, if they could, and wait for the next day to see if they could get near to talk to Baekhyun. But Chanyeol couldn’t sleep. As soon as he heard Minseok and Jongdae asleep breathings he got up and walked to the shore, being careful not to make any loud noises.

He looked for the swan, but he was nowhere to be seen, exactly as the Moon that night.


	9. Top of the hill

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized that, in this fic, Minseok is a complete crackhead. Not sorry, just telling.

Minseok and Jongdae woke up the next morning to find Chanyeol sitting alongside the shore. He clearly didn’t slept at all last night, he looked tired and a bit off, his mind was still wandering through last night.The grooms didn’t look better themselves, sleeping of the floor wasn’t a very royal habit and the last night events weren’t helping.  
They needed to do something to distract themselves from the lake, the magic, and the swans, so Minseok had the idea to get the horses and spent the day in a town, about two hours ago from there, so they could eat and rest a little before the night came and they had to be back on the lake.

The three of them sitted on the first inn they could find to eat and drink something.

 _“Did anyone slept at all?_ ” - Minseok asked.

 _“A bit”_ \- Jongdae answered, he had been silent since yesterday night - _“ But I dreamt with swans”_

“I didn’t sleep” - Chanyeol said looking at the bottom of his glass like he was about to fit his head inside and fell asleep.

The three of them fell in and awkward silence, the chattering, the glass and plates sounds were the only things filling the ambient between them.Until Chanyeol exploded.

 _“What do you guys think we saw last night?”_ \- he needed to ask. Chanyeol gave a lot of thought to everything his eyes saw last night, but nothing clear came to his mind. He saw magic, pure magic, he saw Baekhyun, the swan, the feathers… his head was a mess.

 _“We saw magic”_ \- Minseok placed his glass between his hands - _“We saw Baekhyun being a victim of some sort of magic.”_

Jongdae nodded with his arms crossed.

 _“We need to find out who did this to him”_ \- the Fulgur prince answered.

 _“And why”_ \- his groom completed the answer with a soft smile.

Chanyeol rubbed his face with his hands, trying to wake himself up, trying to sketch a plan for the three of them to follow, he started blabbering, nervous, and a bit excited, but Jongdae stopped him.

 _“You should hire a room, and have a nap. Or two.”_ \- Jongdae said with the smile a concerned older brother would give you - “ _You will be of no use if you are this tired.”_

 _“Look who’s speaking”_ .- Minseok said with a laugh loud - “I am the only one rested here. You two should go and sleep for a few hours.”

Minseok got up from the table and asked the lady in charge about the rooms, a second before he was already paying for a simple room with two bedrooms and some food. When he came back to the table, Minseok handed Jongdae the bedroom key with a mischievous smile.

 _“Here, the key to my heart”_ \- Jongdae chuckled while a soft pink tone appeared on his cheeks..

 _“And what are you going to do until we wake up”_ \- Chanyeol asked before the two just married princes got too cheesy.

 _“Some research”_ \- Minseok simply answered with a wink.

─── ❖ ── ✦ ── ❖ ───

Minseok said goodbye to the other two and left the inn. Not much later, Chanyeol and Jongdae left for their new room, the beds looked comfortable enough and they were full of pillows and blankets. Jongdae was closing the windows when Chanyeol asked him about Baekhyun.

 _“He was always scheming something”_ \- Jongdae’s eyes were filled with endearment, about the past, about his friend - “ _In a friendly way, of course, he wasn’t bad, just… a little shit sometimes”_ \- he laughed and Chanyeol smiled seeing his friend so soft. - _“I’ve been blaming myself, all this time, even if the told me not to. I’ve always felt guilty, and at the same time, powerless.”_

Jongdae sat on the side of his bed, looking at his hands, the other Prince sat besides him and caressed softly his back, with the warm soft touch of Chanyeol’s hand, Jongdae felt a knot inside his throat and tears falling through his cheeks.

 _“I always thought that I could have done something”_ \- Jongdae stopped talking to catch some air between his tears - _“I thought he was dead…”_

Chanyeol hugged Jongdae’s back warmly, trying to soothe him from crying more.

 _“He is alive, Dae”_ \- Chanyeol spoke with the softest voice he could manage - “ _You found him, everything is going to be okay_.”

Jongdae moved, breaking Chanyeol’s hug to look at him, his almond eyes now red from the tears, piercing Chanyeol.

 _“You found him, Chanyeol”_ \- Jongdae hugged Chanyeol strongly - _“Thank you so much.”_

After a while the gloomy mood disappeared and led to a more cheerful one, but the exhaustion was too strong for them and at some point they feel in a deep slumber when outside was still bright.

─── ❖ ── ✦ ── ❖ ─── 

Meanwhile, Minseok decided to research about the lake, the near forest that surrounded and if someone was living around that area. At first no one answered, giving him the runaround about the issue and, sometimes, trying to sell him something instead. A few hours later Minseok was already tired, looking back he had walked, back and forth, the whole town, completely unsuccesfully. He was already thinking about coming back to the inn with the other two when a old woman waved at him from her house at the top of the hill.  
It was, probably, the oldest house in the town, and probably the oldest woman in the whole town. The entrance of the tiny building was full of plants and flowers, making the garden look a bit crazy.  
When Minseok entered the house he soon realized that the insides of the house were like the outdoors, crazy. Full of books, vases, paintings… all you can imagine. The old lady, with her long gray hair tied in a braid appeared from nowhere, startling Minseok.

 _“Son of the snow”_ \- the ancient lady said - _“What’s your name?”_

 _“M-minseok”_ \- the prince of Nix answered - “ _Did you said “Son of the snow”?_

 _“Your crest”_ \- she said with a sincere smile - _“I heard someone with Nix’s crest was asking some things town around.”_

The lady made a sign for Minseok to sit in her living room, Minseok followed her and sat, and a second before the lady disappeared from sight, only leaving a loud rumble behind her. Minseok had to wait, sitting there, looking at everything stored inside the house thinking what was he doing there.

When the lady came back she gave Minseok a pottery bottle with some liquid inside.

 _“Sorry, Mrs , but… what’s this?”_ -The lady chuckled at Minseok’s confused expression.

“ _You need that to kill a witch”_ \- she said that in a voice so sweet that Minseok nodded and a second before jumped from the couch finally registering the words.

 _“What witch?”_ \- he left the bottle at the couch, just in case.

 _“Weren’t you asking about the Dark Woods and the lake?”_ \- the lady was now the one looking confused.

 _“Well… yes…”_ \- Minseok scratched his head a bit ashamed from his behaviour.

 _“Well then”_ \- the lady gave Minseok the bottle once again - _“A powerful witch under the name of Joohyun was incarcerated in the Dark Woods a long ago. If you were asking about that place I’m sure you saw her.”_

Minseok looked at the tiny bottle perplexed and after that he looked at the old lady even more perplexed.

 _“Mrs… are you a witch?”_ \- Minseok asked out of the blue owning himself a hit on the arm from the lady. Sure she was old, but she still can kick.

 _“Be careful. Once she is free again her powers will come back full force”_ \- Minseok nodded, this time registering completely the words of the woman.

 _“How… how can I thank you for this?”_ \- Minseok finally asked, this information and the bottle sure had a price.

 _“A feather. From the silver swan”_ \- Minseok froze in place. She knew.

 _“You. You know??!”_ -The lady laughed resoundingly while pushing Minseok out of her house. Bottle in hand.

 _“Remember to throw that at her once she is weak, okay?”_ \- she asked sweetly again.

Minseok again just nodded, he was almost outside the house when he managed to ask her on last thing.

_“”Who are you?”_

The lady answered, just a second before closing the shabby door of her small house at the top of the hill.

_“I’m the wizard that put her there.”_


	10. Waning crescent

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about not updating last week, it was one hell of a week tbh.
> 
> Hope you like this one, I've wanting to write this moment since I started the fic xD

Minseok couldn’t run any faster, if he did, he would be flying. He ran all over the town so fast he almost falls twice, and what’s worse, the bottle almost falls too.  
He reached the inn and climbed the stairs three steps at a time, instead of knocking the door and wait for the others to wake and open to him, he kicked the door and made his entrance.

 _“WAKE UP”_ \- he left the brown pottery bottle in a nightstand and went to open the windows and blinds, making Chanyeol and Jongdae growl deeply while they wake up. - “ _Stop whining and wake up, I have a lot to show you.”_

 _“Min”_ \- Jongdae said stretching his back - _“You are all sweaty, what’s wrong?”_

 _“I need you to look at this”_ \- Minseok gave Jongdae the pottery bottle - _“I can’t believe what happened to me.”_

 _“Min, please relax, it’s just a bottle”_ \- Jongdae looked at the bottle, skeptical, it was just a bottle, right?.

 _“Who gave you the bottle?”_ \- Chanyeol asked with his eyes still partially closed and his hair a complete mess on the other bed, closest to the window.

_“A WIZARD”_

Chanyeol and Jongdae looked at each other and then they looked to Minseok. Was he going nuts?. Both Princes laughed, now completely awake, while Minseok furrowed his brows and pouted, starting to get pissed.

 _“Did the wizard also pulled a bunny out of a hat?”_ \- Chanyeol asked.

Minseok answer was to try to kill Chanyeol with a pillow, until Jongdae intervened and got Minseok out of Chanyeol, still laughing.

 _“I asked every person in this god forsaken town. Nobody wanted to talk. It feels like there is something weird about this place.”_ \- Minseok started explaining - _“Like there is something wrong with the lake and the woods.”_

 _“Well, we know that something is wrong about that place”_ \- Jongdae answered, listening to his husband.

 _“Exactly”_ \- Minseok grabbed the bottle again - _“ That’s when this woman, the wizard, appeared.”_

Minseok told the other Princes everything about his conversation with the wizard, and his experience inside the tiny weird house.  
Jongdae sighed deeply and Chanyeol took the bottle to have a better look of it. How a common pottery bottle could be that powerful?.  
The Igneus Prince shaked the bottle and only the sound of some liquid came from inside, so he decided to take off the cork lid, the smell that came from the bottle was hideous, like something has been rotting for centuries inside.

 _“Chanyeol, put the lid on!”_ \- Minseok said covering his nose

 _“I think that smell could kill a witch, and anyone”_ \- Jongdae hurried to the window for some fresh air.

 _“I think I will keep the bottle from now on.”_ \- Minseok took it from Chanyeol hands.

 _“What if it’s a scam?”_ \- Chanyeol asked

 _“Well, did she took money from you?”_ \- Jongdae asked to his husband, and this one answered denying with his head - _“Then I guess it won’t hurt”_

 _“I mean… she did ask for something in return..:”_ \- the Nix Prince answered in a low voice - _“she wants a feather from the silver swan.”_

The three of them looked at each other and agreed on asking Baekhyun about having one of his feathers, birds lose them all the time, he won’t mind, right?  
Talking about Baekhyun, the noon had already passed, and the Three Princes have a two hour trip forward them until they get to the lake. They dressed and prepared for said trip, this time better rested and with a new feeling inside of their hearts.

─── ❖ ── ✦ ── ❖ ───

They reached the same spot where they camped the last night a couple hours before dusk, so they had time to lit a tiny fire, and walk around the lake searching for any sign of the silver swan, Baekhyun or the witch.

 _“Are you nervous?”_ \- Jongdae asked Chanyeol.

 _“I should be asking you the same thing”_ \- Chanyeol answered with one of his beautiful smiles. - _“Are you?”_

_“I am. He is my best friend after all.”_

They fell in a comfortable silence, Chanyeol was really thankful. Minseok has been his friend, like brothers to be fair, for a lifetime, but now he knew that he also has Jongdae with him. Having such a understanding and reliable new friend made Chanyeol utterly happy.  
The only thing troubling him at this point were the nervous feelings he was fighting to cover, back at the inn he even dreamt of his first encounter with Baekhyun; how unreal he looked, how easy to talk the Prince was, the warmth that spread inside of him while being with the silver haired boy.

How easy to fall for Baekhyun was.

Right in that moment, the Sun hide behind the mountain that homed the lake, the moment the Moon came out was near, Jongdae and Chanyeol head back to the tiny camp thay the three setted when, like a shooting star crossing the night sky they saw it.

The silver swan, heading to the lake, gracefully flying over their camp, sinking in the crystal clear waters, his beautiful feathers shining with the last rays of Sun over the lake, iridiscent, waiting for the Moon to reflect on the lake.

They didn’t have to wait for long, the silver satellite soon made its appearance, and the swan had no doubts, as soon as he saw it, he swam to the reflection triggering the magic inside its body. The water swallowed him, covered its animal figure as if they were dancing, the glimmering of the Moon and the sparkling magic changed the silver feathers for silver hair, and the animal figure for Baekhyun’s real body, he was himself once again.

 _“Go”_ \- Minseok murmured to Jongdae, agape, giving him a soft push. At that moment, Jongdae didn’t remember how he used to walk towards Baekhyun, to years ago it would have been something natural, something his mind wouldn’t have to think, but now he was. So, instead of thinking, his heart took control, the Prince of Fulgur started running, loudly, crying from all the emotions he had been crawling inside.  
From Baekhyun perspective and unexpected guest was running towards him and he had no way to hide, or anything he could use as a weapon, he froze in place, the last guest he had was Chanyeol, was there any chance that the Prince came back for him?.  
With this thought running wild inside his mind and heart Baekhyun legs ran too, towards the stranger, like something was calling him, no, wait, his guest was calling him.

That voice. That high-pitched cry. Only one person had that voice in the whole world.

 _“Jongdae?”_ \- that was the only thing Baekhyun managed to say before Jongdae jumped to grab him and entangled his body into the tightest hug ever.

Big, hot, tears started falling from Baekhyun’s face, it was him, it was really him. Jongdae was hugging him so hard that Baekhyun was afraid about breaking, but, to be completely honest, he couldn’t care less. Jongdae only murmured tiny phrases like “you are here”, “you are alive” when Baekhyun managed to see, between his own tears, two more figures coming out from the darkness.

He easily recognised Minseok’s soft smile and smile figure, those gentle cat eyes were hard to forget. When the Prince of Nix reached the other two he caressed Baekhyun’s silver hair, it was a simple caress but Baekhyun noticed how caring it was, how much Baekhyun had needed something like that little show of affection, and how much Minseok needed to confirm that Baekhyun was real, not some hallucination. They smiled softly at each other.

And the other figure, tall, broad, the biggest smile ever saw and a beautiful dimple to go with it. Chanyeol was crying, happy crying he could tell, but Baekhyun discovered that he hated to see tears on that face. The face he has been thinking non stop since they met, not so long ago. Baekhyun, without letting Jongdae go, reached out Chanyeol’s hand when he was close enough.

 _“Thank you”_ \- was the only thing Baekhyun managed to say, the big knot of emotion inside his throat was making the task of talking really difficult.

Chanyeol nodded and placed his forehead against Baekhyun’s softly. Baekhyun could feel Chanyeol’s gaze on him, he did that the last time too, there was not a single thing Baekhyun didn’t like about those almond eyes looking at him like he was a treasure, but he wondered what had he done, in a past life or in this one, to deserve someone like Chanyeol. Baekhyun left Chanyeol’s hand and caressed the corner of his mouth and dimple.

The lake has never been calmer. Baekhyun’s heart has never been wilder. For a moment everything seemed fine, the world in place, Baekhyun wished that Jongdae’s hug, Minseok soft caress on his hair, and Chanyeol’s glance were everlasting.


	11. Waning crescent II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm alive (barely but alive after all). Sorry about not posting, I've been super super busy.
> 
> update: nobody told me that I had TWO BIG ASS TYPOS

The hug and caresses didn't last long, though,soon Baekhyun yelled into Jongdae’s ear that he wasn’t actually breathing much. Their smiles kept creeping in their faces while walking towards the little camp. Baekhyun had three princes with loads of questions and only a few hours to explain himself the best way possible.

The swan prince explained everything to them, from the night he decided to run away from palace until that very night, the happiest night he had in years, and probably one of the happiest in his whole life.  
Later, after they ate almost everything the three princes had packed, Baekhyun walked over the shore to see where the moon already was when Chanyeol followed him.  
“ _Why didn't you tell me all of this the first time we saw._ ”-Chanyeol had to ask. The first answer he received was a pity smile from Baekhyun.  
_“I.. Didn't though that you would believe me.I mean, no one would..”_ \- he said shrugging his shoulders.  
_“No, I mean, it's okay.. I’m just super nervous and I don't know how to explain myself”_ \- the tall prince may lose all his royal charm when he doubts so much and scratches his head nervously, but he gains another type of charm in return, the cute type and Baekhyun can't actually resist that.  
With a sincere smile he approaches Chanyeol only to whisper;  
_“You don't need to be nervous around me.”_  
But Chanyeol is, and he is also thankful when Minseok and Jongdae came in to interrupt the tiny moment they were having alone. Because he can't either resist.

 _“So, we go to the witch’s house and end all of thi_ s” -Dae’s solution sounds way too quick  
_“So, we go to the witch’s cabin and we all end up with feathers from head to toes”_ -Baekhyun says with a raised brow.  
_“Then, what do we do? do you want us to leave you here?”_ \- that his best friend’s obvious next question.  
_“That would sound great in your memories, Dae, “I'm a prince ,so, obviously, my best friend is a duck”_ \- Minseok says trying not to laugh, and having Chanyeol failing miserably.  
_“Swan”_ -Baekhyun corrects.  
_“Sorry, big entitled duck_ ”- Baekhyun kicked Minseok and directed a glare to Chanyeol who was still laughing almost on the ground.  
_“I'm trying to be serious here!”_ -Jongdae shouts.  
_“Tell that to your husband!”_  
“ _What happened yesterday by the way, we saw the witch talking to you”_  
Baekhyun fell silent and sighed; _“I'm having a bad feel about this, I mean, for me it's not weird to see her here, she comes from time to time, but yesterday she talked about the a palace, about some party and she said something about… about my time to shine about to come…”_  
They all looked at him, concerned and intrigued, until something clicked in Chanyeol’s head;  
_“The Lux Prince’s Festival! It’s next week!”_ \- Jongdae and Minseok nodded in agreement but Baekhyun was just confused.  
_“What festival?_ ” - he ended up asking.  
_“Your parents celebrate a festival every year the day you disappeared, the people from the capital offer something to pray for your return and such”_ \- Jongdae answered.

Baekhyun was deeply touched. After all the arguing with his parents after how he left his home, after all this time, they missed him somehow, Baekhyun fought against the tears forming in his eyes and against the knot inside his throat, it wasn’t the moment.

 _“Do you think her plans have something to do with that?.”_ \- the silver haired boy managed to ask.  
_“Probably”_  
_“We should warn your parents”_ -Minseok added.  
_“How? I can’t make it to the capital and back to the lake in time_ ”- Baekhyun sounded like he had tried some times before, so they didn’t ask.  
_“Maybe they will believe me”_ \- Jongdae was starting to scheme some plan inside his head. _“Chanyeol, you will guard the lake, be with Baekhyun, duck or person in every moment, if the witch comes, kill her.”_  
_“Swan”_ \- whispered Baekhyun.  
_“That sounds easier than done. How do you want me to kill her?_ ” just with the thought you could see the nervousness in Chanyeol’s eyes.  
_“We have our secret weapon. “_ \- Minseok gave Chanyeol the pottery bottle.  
_“What’s that?” -_ Baekhyun asked trying to sniff the bottle.  
_“I don’t know and I don’t want to know”_ \- Minseok answered.  
_“Some weird lady gave it to Minseok. And it smeels like shit”_ -answered Chanyeol.  
_“So, I will go to the capital to warn your parents and Chanyeol will guard you, okay?”_ \- Chanyeol nodded.  
_“Wait, and what I am supposed to do?”_ -Minseok asked.  
_“You can wait here with me, I mean, a witch will be work for more than one”_  
_“Okay. No! Wait!”_ \- Minseok grabbed Baekhyun’s shoulders - “ _I need one of your feathers”_  
_“What?!”_  
_“The old lady that gave me our secret weapon wanted one of your feathers as payment”_ \- Minseok explained. - _“Give me one and I’ll go pay her.”_  
_“Okay. I have plenty, but everything related to that lady sounds weird”_  
_“And you haven’t see her house”_ \- they both laughed.

After some more arrangments, Baekhyun realized that the Moon was leaving the lake already, he had to come back.

 _“I have to go to the water”_ \- Baekhyun voice sounded dishearted.  
 _“Let me go with you. I have to be wherever you are, remember?”_

The soft smile in Chanyeol’s face made he way back to the water way easier for Baekhyun, that and the fact that they didn’t lose eye contact while walking to the shore. Before the waters started swallowing his human figure, Baekhyun asked one more thing to Chanyeol.

 _“How do I thank you for all of this? You brought back to me my friends and my hope… “_ \- Baekhyun held one of Chanyeol’s warm hands - _“How do I..”_

But the question was interrupted by Chanyeol’s tender and soft lips, a pure kiss way too short for what Baekhyun had in his mind, but the best kiss he ever had, full of innocent, pure affection, full of younf puppy love.

 _“Now I’ll have to thank you for this too”_ \- Chanyeol laughed soundly, his face completely red, from the kiss, from seeing the most sincere and beautiful smile Baekhyun has ever gave him, from seeing the happy glistening in Baekhyun’s eyes.

A second after, the waters and the Moon worked his magic, making his human body disappear, but this time, at least, it was a bit less sad. Because tomorrow Chanyeol will be there, waiting for him.


	12. Third quarter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't dead, I just didn't have a computer.

There is no single bird that enjoys someone taking one of his feathers, even if that bird is your friend magically transformed, Minseok discovered next morning, after their emotional reunion.

 _“Does everyone have their part of the plan clear?”_ \- Jongdae asked munching on some bread for the breakfast.

 _“I’ll go find the odd lady at the village and give her the feather”_ \- Minseok was the first to answer under the hateful gaze of a certain swan.

 _“I’ll stay here with Baekhyun and protect him”_ \- Chanyeol said determined. - “ _And if the witch appears...I’ll knock her out with this”_ \- said showing the pottery bottle once more.

 _“I don’t think that is how supposed to be used”_ \- Minseok said with a sarcastic tone. Chanyeol answered throwing at him some bread crumbs from his breakfast, they all laughed when Baekhyun, the swan, ate them.

When they finished the breakfast Jongdae and Minseok mounted on their horses and parted ways, full of hope, and promising to see them as soon as possible, leaving behind a tall Prince and a silver swan.

They spent the morning not very busy, Chanyeol walked over the shore until the forest was too deep, too dark to continue while Baekhyun followed him by water, there was no signs of the witch or any other creatures besides other swans and ducks swimming slowly and peacefully on the crystal clear lake.  
It sure was a quiet place, Chanyeol though while sitting on some green grass with a silver swan besides him.  
The Prince, slowly, petted Baekhyun’s beautiful feathers, only for it’s softness, he though, it was worth having one of them. While petting the swan, Chanyeol started to doze off slowly, it had been some stressful days and he could actually use a nap.

 _“Just ten minutes”_ \- he told Baekhyun closing his eyes.

Baekhyun scoffed inside his mind, ten minutes later he didn’t woke up Chanyeol.

─── ❖ ── ✦ ── ❖ ─── 

Meanwhile, already at noon, Minseok reached the village with his precious cargo. During the trip he couldn’t stop thinking odd things,what if the house wasn’t there anymore, what if the house was there but someone else lived in it and told him something weird like: “it’s impossible, the grandma has been dead for ten years”.  
A cold shiver ran over his back like a bad omen, but, when he reached the highest part of the village and the house was still there part of this thoughts vanished.

He left his horse at the entrance and knocked at the door, nobody answered at first, so he tried two or three times more. His worst thoughts were real, the lady wasn’t there, and all of the people passing around the house told him not ot enter or disturb, because, apparently the lady was crazy. Minseok grew worried and nervous, what was he supposed to do now. Nix Prince walked around the house, to see if the old lady was at the backyard.

That was when Minseok discovered that the backyard wasn’t a backyard at all, it was more of a junge. Trees, flowers and every type of plant you can actually imagine among some others that, probably, aren’t from this world in the wildest shapes, colors and sizes.

 _“Lady? Are you there?”_ \- Minseok called. He was starting to feel a bit scared. The jungle he was in was getting darker and darker, at first he thought that it was all his imagination, but when the vines and flowers started surrounding him, he had no doubt, that place was enchanted, the plants were all over him, he even couldn’t see the path he was following anymore.  
He tried to cut the vines and the flowers to clear the way with the knife he was carrying on his boot, but it was futile, they were even closer now. He tried to climb over the near trees, was he going crazy? was this actually going on?.

While climbing some tree the vines got his feet and pushed him to the ground, leaving him breathless and with a heavy contusion on his back, he realized, late, that he had fell over some blue tiny flowers with a strong sweet scent.

The blurred blue of the flowers and the vivid green of the grass were the two last things Minseok saw.

─── ❖ ── ✦ ── ❖ ───

When Jongdae reached the Palace of Lux nobody was expecting him, furthermore without his husband or some guards with him, but he didn’t care, Jongdae didn’t even waited for the stable boy to take his horse, he simply took of at the entrance of the Palace and walked, almost running, his way up to the Royal Office.  
Several staff members of the Palace tried to stop him, to tell him that the King and Queen were busy or not expecting him, but Jongdae didn’t listen. He had promised himself.

He promised that he would free Baekhyun, whatever it takes.

He opened the door with a tremendous uproar, Jongdae didn’t have any time to lose, even if he was tired and worn out from all the stress and the ride.

_“Prince Jongdae?!”-_ the King of Lux, Baekhyun’s father, was indeed in his office, and the look he gave to Jongdae showed a mix of offence and concern. - _“Have you lost your manners after your marriage?”_ \- The King asked.

 _“You’ll have to excuse me, my King”_ \- Jongdae approached to the dark office desk the King was sat behind - “ _But I have and urgent matter we have to discuss right now.”_

The King, ignoring him, made a sing to the two door guards to take Jongdae out of his office.

 _“I’m afraid, you’ll have to wait. One day, my dear Prince, you’ll learn that being a King entails a lot of responsibilities.”_ \- One of the guards put a hand over Jongdae shoulder - _“Take him to his guest room.”_

 _“What about your responsibilities as a father”_ \- Jongdae answered in a less nice tone with a harsh movement to free his shoulder.

The King stopped in place, he dropped the pen he was using and made another gesture to the guards to leave Jongdae.

 _“What are you talking about?”_ \- the King asked.

_“I found Baekhyun. He is alive”._

─── ❖ ── ✦ ── ❖ ───

Some hours ago Chanyeol and Baekhyun were sleeping on a sunny patch of grass at the lake, which now seemed weird since Chanyeol woke up inside of a cabin, hearing a very angry, very disturbed swan yelling his lungs out.  
Chanyeol had no doubts that Baekhyun was making the sounds, he stood out of the tiny bed he was in only to have his face hitting the ground, his feet were tied with a chain to the wall, he could only move a few steps away from the bed without falling, he couldn’t get to the door or the window to see what was going on outside.

He heard a voice outside speaking a language he couldn’t recall, a weird vibe surrounded the area, he had to get up, he had to leave that cursed place, he tried to free himself, but his feet were well tied, his sword gone, no one in sight, the bird yelling getting stronger.

Chanyeol started to yell for help, as a Prince you are educated to get things done by yourself, but Chanyeol has always been a compassionate, caring heart, even when his teachers, brothers and father told him to not to cry, to be the saving hand not the one being saved, he never doubted in calling for aid or advice. This time, even if no one could help him, maybe that way he would get the attention of whomever was hurting Baekhyun outside.  
Apparently his idea worked, a beautiful, elegant figure entered the cabin.

It was hard telling its features, all dressed in rich black clothes and a black hooded cape. The person looked at Chanyeol, or at least that was what he thought.

 _“What a pair of whiney Princes”_ \- the person took of the hood to reveal a well known face.

The face Chanyeol has been dreaming with the last weeks, the face Chanyeol kissed last night. Baekhyun.

 _“Baekhyun?”_ \- Chanyeol had to ask.

 _“Oh, dear.”_ \- Baekhyun approached him, slowly, grabbing his face with his left hand, stabbing his cheeks with his black nails. - _“I may look like him, sweet Prince. But I’m not.”_

 _“The witch…”_ \- the two words left Chanyeol mouth in a breath.

 _“Well, look who is handsome and has a brain!” -_ the witch laughed, but it was Baekhyun’s laugh, it was Baekhyun’s face. This was messing Chanyeol’s head so badly.

 _“What did you do with him”_ \- it wasn’t a question at all, Chanyeol realized that he couldn’t hear Baekhyun’s yelling anymore.

The witch snapped her fingers, Baekhyun fingers, and after some smoke Chanyeol and the witch were outside, near the lake, and Baekhyun, the real one, was lying on the ground, near the water getting the top of his head soaked.

 _“Baekhyun!_ ” - Chanyeol got up forgetting about his tied feet, now tied at the front wall of the house. - _“Baekhyun! Answer me!”_

There was no response.

_“What have you done?! What have you done to him?!”_ \- Chanyeol couldn’t hold his emotions anymore, crying and yelling, his eyes red because of the raging hate spreading inside of him like wild fire.

 _“Oh, nothing”_ \- said the witch, not even looking at him - _“I just took what I needed from him”_

 _“Baekhyun!”_ \- Chanyeol kept yelling his name like a prayer.

 _“Oh, shut up”_ \- with another movement from his hand the witch closed Chanyeol’s mouth, locking it, making him unable to talk.- _“This is so pitiful to watch. And I can’t let you disturb this peaceful place with all that yelling, can I?”_ \- The witch laughed, again with Baekhyun’s laugh, with a malice in its eyes that Chanyeol couldn’t bear to watch. Chanyeol was raging inside, and outside. - _“What a beautiful look, your eyes scream even more than your throat.”_

The witch sat besides Chanyeol, she might have Baekhyun’s face, Baekhyun’s eyes, but they look so empty, so dead.

 _“It was fun hearing all of you the other night, so high and mighty, you were supposed to protect him and look where the Prince of Lux is now, so funny.”_ \- the witch sighed, faking concern for the situation - _“Worry not, my dear Prince Chanyeol, I have some business to run at the moment, but soon I’ll be back and we, together, are going to find how to put you in good use.”_ \- the witch freed Chanyeol’s mouth and he gasped for air.  
_“Soon no one will be able to stop me”_ \- Baekhyun’s hands grabbed his face again, the evilest smile on his face - _“I wonder how the King and the Queen of Lux are going to react to see his beloved son after all this time. Moreover, I’m intrigued about what are they going to do when I start killing them with this face.”_

Chanyeol tried to spit on the witch face, but it was too slow, the witch freed Chanyeol’s face making him crash to the ground once again: _“Monster”_ \- Chanyeol gasped.

 _“How cute, my Prince. It’s getting late, and I can’t wait any longer”_ \- the witch had the audacity to smile, with Baekhyun’s smile, with that pure, beautiful smile of him. _“See you soon.”_ \- Just like that the witch vanished in the air, some purple smoke where she was standing inside Baekhyun’s body.

Chanyeol was tired, panting, she must had cursed him in some way to feel exhausted, but Chanyeol knew that he couldn’t stop just now, he had to save Baekhyun, he refused to believe that he wa gone. Chanyeol used everything in his hand to try to break the chain tying him, until he grabbed a big enough rock and the chain started to give in.  
Minutes later, with a chain still clinging to his leg, Chanyeol got up and ran to Baekhyun’s body. He hugged him, petted his silver hair, half soaked and prayed for him to open his slightly fallen eyes, but there was no answer.

Baekhyun didn’t answer.

─── ❖ ── ✦ ── ❖ ───

Minseok yelled as soon as he opened his eyes. He recognised the house he was in, the old lady worn out house. And there she was, sat on a grey armchair, looking at him while he was sleeping. Not creepy at all, Minseok thought.

 _“We are going to need that silver feather you are carrying, Prince of Nix”_ \- the old lady said getting up from her chair.

 _“What… what happened?”_ \- Minseok was confused, and the sweet scent of the flowers was still lingering in his nose.  
_“You broke into my magical garden, got lost, and smelled some flowers. Judging by your hair I would say that they were a variant of forget-me-nots that I am harvesting.”_ \- She answered nonchalantly.

 _“My… my hair?!”_ \- Minseok looked at his reflection, scared, what he saw scared him even more, his hair was completely blue. - _“I’m going to burn those goddamn flowers”_

 _“They are very powerful, but they have that nasty habit of dying everything they enter in contact with”_ \- she wasn’t troubled at all by the idea, but her hair wasn’t the blue one. Jongdae and Chanyeol were going to laugh at him for a lifetime. - _“Now give the feather, we have a lot of things to do.”_

Minseok woke up and gave the feather, carefully wrapped inside some handkerchief, to the lady. She took the feather and the handkerchief, and store them inside one of his sleeves.

 _“Now, please, sit”_ \- she ordered. While Minseok was sitting on the gray armchair the old lady moved both of her hands, like in a ritual dance, golden and silver trays of glitter appeared wherever she moved her hands, and with some words and a spin, her body changed completely. A young beautiful woman appeared where the old lady was standing, dressed in grey clothes, but with the same kind, patient and, a bit, crazy look.

Minseok had to blink twice.

_“What.. what?”_

_“Living alone as an old woman is way easier, people tend to forget about my existence, but I need my real appearance for all the magic I’m about to cast”_ \- she explained shortly but direct. - “Now, Prince, I’m about to send you with your husband.”

 _“No!”_ \- Minseok said getting up - _“I need to go back to the lake, with Chanyeol and Baekhyun.”_

 _“Hear me. There’s nothing for you to do there but Jongdae is going to need you.”_ \- very quickly she drew something on the floor, next to Minseok. - _“get inside the circle”._

Minseok put his feet inside the circle even if he was really skeptical about not following the plan.

_“What I’m supposed to do once I get there?”_

_“I can’t tell you, your actions must be free, Prince.”_ \- then, she doubted. _“But I do have an advice: don’t trust the black swan.”_

Minseok was about to ask something about that “advice” but before he could make a sound, the sorceress had already threw some dust to his feet, making his vision blur and his body disappear from the worn out cabin.

Next time Minseok opened his eyes he was at the Lux’s private garden inside the castle.

─── ❖ ── ✦ ── ❖ ───

_“I won’t hear anything else”_ \- the King of Lux demanded. _“I can’t believe a single word you say, Jongdae”:_

 _“But you have to, you must, your son is in danger. He has been in danger for two years.”_ \- Jongdae tried to explain once again, but the King was deaf to his words. Jongdae couldn’t blame him actually, it was a story hard to believe, even if, not so long ago, he believed it really quickly not everyone is so open at this kind of stuff.

“ _What I must do is inform your parents before YOU put someone in danger. Your husband? The Prince of Igneus? All of them in danger because of your delusional tale of finding my careless son. Grow up, Prince of Fulgur, my son is dead.”_ \- that last words sounded heavy, like a burden.

The argument took a few hours of their time, and right then when it looked like it was about to end, a loud cry that froze their bloods happened. It came from the Castle Hall, not to far from the King’s main office. The King himself and Jongdae ran outside the room til the hall to see what was going on. The cry came from the Queen herself, when the King and Jongdae reached her she was hugging tightly a man dressed in black.

_“Baekhyun”._

He could hear the name of his friend coming from the King’s mouth, right at his side. But when Baekhyun looked their way, Jongdae had a cold shiver running all over his back. How could they think that that person was Baekhyun?.

The suit was the same suit Baekhyun left with, but completely black, and his hair? Black as onyx, the way he was looking at his parents and Jongdae? The coldest, emptiest gaze ever on Baekhyun face. Baekhyun was not like that. That was not Baekhyun.

The lake. Minseok, Chanyeol. Baekhyun. Panic started running through Jongdae body, while the King and Queen were busy with the Baekhyun they have in front of them, Jongdae ran outside looking for his horse.

A bad feeling started to bloom inside of his chest, the same. anxiety that ran over his body the day Baekhyun disapeared two years ago If that person inside the Castle wasn't the real Baekhyun, were was the real one?

And what happened to his husband

As soons as Jongdae stood outside of the building he answered his last question. He didn't found is horse but he found his husband, confused and blue haired.


	13. Waning gibbous

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you send me hate comments after this chapter I will completely understand hahaha

_“Jongdae”_ \- Minseok yelled running across the end of the Gardens to the main entrance of the Palace.

Jongdae made a sign to Minseok to remain silent while running into him. Instead of words, instead of questions he just hugged his husband tightly, Jongdae’s hands were trembling, his pulse uneven, he was clearly nervous, but hugging Minseok gave him some relief, at least, he thought, the love of his life was safe and sound.

_“What’s wrong?”_ \- Minseok had to ask, breaking the hug.

 _“Baekhyun is inside, but..”_ \- Jongdae looked around them, apparently only bushes, trees and flowers surrounding the married couple, but with the weird things that were going on he wasn’t trusting a single pebble on the way. Jongdae grabbed Minseok’s hand and ran lightly inside the Gardens where he came from.

 _“Listen”_ \- Once they reached a more private area surrounded by taller bushes, Jongdae started to whisper. - _“Baekhyun is inside the Palace, but.. is not him. I don’t know how to explain it, but is not him, they way he talks, the way he looks... I’m sure.”_

Minseok nodded and caressed Jongdae’s cheek softly: _“I believe you. But you won’t get anything done like this, breathe, Jongdae.”_

Jongdae placed his head on Minseok shoulder while the other petted his hair softly. For a few seconds everything around him was just Minseok, the smell on his clothes, the soft way he petted his hair, the way his other hand rested on his back drawing tiny circles, Minseok’s relaxed breathing… in the middle of all the stress and worry an oasis.Jongdae always considered the way Minseok lifted all of his burdens magical, just a word from him was enough to calm his heart and his head.

 _“I met the old lady, by the way. I gave her the feather and she sent me here, she said that you were going to need me. I guess she was right.”_ \- Minseok whispered softly into his husband’s ear. Jongdae huffed and smiled softly, lifting his head.

 _“Did the old lady dyed your hair too?”_ \- Jongdae asked with his classical teasing tone playing with a strand of blue hair between his fingers.

 _“Long story, I just hope it’s not permanent..:”_ \- they laughed a bit, very low.

That’s when Jongdae heard it, some footsteps getting closer to them, crushing leaves on its way.

 _“Leave the Palace. Go look for Chanyeol._ ” - Inside Jongdae’s eyes worry and desperation once again.

_“What are you going to do?”_

_“Someone is coming, Min, they don’t know that you are here and we need help, I don’t know yet what is going on. Leave, look for Chanyeol, please.”_

Minseok quickly nodded and before Jongdae could leave his side once again he kissed his husband, deeply but short, a kiss full of hope.

“ _Whatever you hear, leave.”_ \- Jongdae left on the way the sounds were coming, Minseok started his own way when he heard Baekhyun’s voice.

 _“What are you doing here, my dear friend?” -_ Baekhyun asked.

 _“I was expecting you to come after me.”_ \- Jongdae serious voice answered. Minseok stayed behind some tall flowery bushes to hear, hoping to understand the situation.

 _“If you wanted that bad a private audience you could’ve just asked.”_ \- Baekhyun walked towards Jongdae, slowly, like a lion gets closer to a prey.

 _“I don’t know who you are, but I know you aren’t Baekhyun.”_ \- Jongdae squared up and drew his sword. “Leave now. I won’t hesitate on ending you even if you have my best friend’s face.”

Baekhyun stopped moving, a little smile showed up in his face.

 _“Jongdae, Jongdae”_ \- he sighed. _“Don’t make this more difficult.”_

Baekhyun moved his right hand, and with a swift gesture Jongdae’s sword flew away from him, straight to the ground, Minseok almost gasped too loud after hearing the metal hitting the ground, but managed to remain silent, his right hand moved to the dagger that was hidden inside his boot,he didn’t drew it, but it was a reflex action, he didn’t want to hurt Baekhyun, but he wasn’t going to doubt if he attacked Jongdae once more.

_“Now that we are unarmed we can talk like civilised people”_

_“Talk for yourself, you are still completely armed.”_ \- Jongdae voice indicated how angry he was, not on the mood for games anymore. Baekhyun laughed soundly.

 _“I won’t hurt you. But…”_ \- black and purple lights came from his hands, his eyes turned pitch black while reciting some words in a language ages forgotten. From behind the bushes, Minseok was being lifted with Baekhyun’s power.

 _“NO”_ \- Jongdae yelled, throwing himself against Baekhyun, making him fall and stop chanting, at the same time Minseok fell to the ground too, now able to breathe, released from Baekhyun’s power.

_“Run!”_

_“Jongdae”_

_“Don’t look back, run”_ \- Baekhyun kicked Jongdae on his left cheek, sending his face away from his body, trying to release his hands again, Minseok’s heart doubted, but his legs didn’t, he ran.

The Prince of Nix crossed the Royal Gardens in a record mark, but he found himself against the tall stone wall that protected the whole complex. There was no way he could climb it, or dig into it, he needed a door, but the entrance was on the exact other way, and that meant to go back to where Baekhyun and Jongdae where.  
How ironic, he thought while moving, they’ve spent the last week looking for Baekhyun desperately and now he had to run from him.

He ran alongside the wall for a few minutes, the anxiety about his husband, the constant doubts, the tense and dark aura that surrounded the once happy castle of Lux all of this mixed, increasing inside his throat, like a thirst you can’t suffocate.

Minseok couldn’t believe his luck when he spotted the stables few meters ahead of him, there was nobody there, not a single palace staff or soldier, and he could use some soldiers help right now. He crossed the stables, making some horses uncomfortable on his way, when he landed on the other side of the stables building Minseok focused his eyes on a old wooden door by the wall.

Right then, before he could reach the worn out door, something stopped him from going further.

Jongdae shoved Minseok against the wall, leaving a confused and bruised look on his husband’s eyes.

_“Jongdae?”_

But no one was hearing on the other side. Or at least no one answered. His eyes were completely empty, and his expression blank, no feelings, no reaction.

_“Dae?”_

Jongdae used one of his hands to grab Minseok’s wrist. On the other hand, his sword.

 _“Dae? It’s me, Min. What are you doing, you are scaring me.”_ \- Minseok voice was an plea to his lover.

His expression was still blank, but Jongdae started crying, a weird view, he wasn’t showing any emotion, but the tiny tears flowing from his eyes showed that, somehow, deep inside, he was afflicted.

 _“Dae. Put that down.”_ \- Minseok pleaded again. Jongdae didn’t move.

Minseok had to think quickly, he gave the hardest kick on the crotch he could manage given his position, Jongdae didn’t complain, but at least the kick made him whimper and drop his sword which gave Minseok a few seconds to drew his dagger, Minseok couldn’t believe anything he was doing. He had been trained to combat, with sword, daggers and hand to hand, and he had to use it a few times during his life, but no one is prepared to use against its own husband.

Minseok didn’t lose eye contact with Jongdae, always pointing at him, trying to keep a safe distance while moving to side, sliding until he reached the door.

But Jongdae threw himself at Minseok, trying to get the dagger, making him unable to move. The Prince of Nix was still near the door, but in a impossible position to open it, the struggle keeping both of his hands busy. Minseok didn’t want to kick Jongdae again, but he did.

 _“Dae, wake up, for fuck’s sake, let me go” -_ he cried.

After another kick, this time harder, Minseok got up, still struggling with Jongdae for the dagger.

_“Don’t make me do it.”_

_“Do it, Min.”_ \- Jongdae whispered.

_“Stop, idiot”_

_“She is controlling me, I can’t, Min, you have to.”_

_“I won’t.”_

_“DO IT OR SHE’LL MAKE ME KILL YOU.”_

The shout froze Minseok from head to toes. Kill him?

_“You wouldn’t….”_

_“I will, I...can’t...talk...much longer. Do it, Min.”_

Jongdae stopped moving once again, but he walked a few steps from Minseok, giving him space to maneuver.

_“Kill me, Minseok”_

Minseok couldn’t see the tiny, weak smile on Jongdae’s face, or how the tears kept falling from his eyes, it wasn’t a happy smile, it was the smile of a convict about to receive its freedom,. Minseok’s own tears were blurring his vision. He could only hear his husband’s voice, asking to kill him right there.

_“Kill me or she’ll make me kill you.”_

A step closer.

Jongdae’s hand on his.

Jongdae’s forehead on Minseok’s forehead.

His hazel eyes looking directly into his. Minseok closed his eyes.

Minseok stabbed Jongdae without looking, even if he had opened his eyes he would’ve only saw his own tears.

_“I love you”_

Minseok let go a loud sob trapped inside his throat, his hand shifted back moving the dagger outside his husband’s abdomen, Jongdae fell, and with him Minseok’s heart. Jongdae was no longer conscious, and Minseok could only see the red, thick blood coming from his body, every drop felt like a nail stabbing into Minseok’s skull.  
Still crying Minseok took his cape and tied it to Jongdae’s wound, to make pressure around it. He had to left, he had promised it to Jongdae, so he did.

No looking back.

Trying not to think, trying not to fall along the way.

Trying to calm the growing urge of throwing himself from a cliff.

─── ❖ ── ✦ ── ❖ ────── ❖ ── ✦ ── ❖ ───

Chanyeol shifted Baekhyun’s body far from the water, his beautiful silver hair still damp, no pulse on his wrists, his heart had stopped, his body cold and his face completely unfazed by any of the calls Chanyeol made trying to wake him up. In the end the tall Prince had given up, Baekhyun wasn’t coming back.  
The body he carried on his arms with a peaceful expression wasn’t as heavy as the sorrow in his heart. Chanyeol could feel every pulse, every beat inside of him, his eyes tired from all the crying couldn’t produce more tears, and all that circled around his head, the only spinning thought inside his skull, revolved about why Baekhyun’s heart wasn’t beating anymore, why his pulse didn’t flow, why Baekhyun couldn’t open his eyes and smile.

Chanyeol had lost him. All that was left with him was his empty body and the cold silence emanating from the Dark Woods.

The Igneus Prince noticed a bright light coming from the lake, to be exact, from above the lake, believing it was the witch again, he drew his sword, leaving Baekhyun’s body hidden behind him, if it was the witch he won’t let her have his body. He won’t let her take anything else from his heart.

The rage growing inside of Chanyeol suddenly stopped when he saw that the bright light coming from the waters didn’t came from the witch, another person, completely dressed in a white dress and robes appeared as if an angel had fallen from the sky.

 _“An angel…I am dead too?”_ \- Chanyeol murmured.

 _“No, you aren’t”_ \- the woman speaking approached him, and softly dried the tears falling on Chanyeol’s cheek with a kind smile. Somehow, Chanyeol felt safe around her.

 _“I know why are you crying, my dear Prince of Igneus. But cry no more. Show me where Baekhyun is.”_ \- it was a command, but it was soft like a whisper, she didn’t look like the type of person that needed to shout to make her wishes prevail anyway.

Chanyeol pointed to where he had hid Baekhyun’s body, lying on the floor, looking like he was just taking a nap.

 _“My poor thing”_ \- the woman kneeled besides him and caressed his hair. - _“ I’m sorry I came a little late.”_

“ _Who are you?”_ \- the way the woman talked to Baekhyun was starting to make him uncomfortable.

 _“My name is not important. I’m just a spirit tied to this world because of a promise I did a long time ago to a King:”_ \- she explained herself like telling a tale to a curious child. _“I promised that when the curse upon the witch called Joohyun ended I would protect the heir of Lux of any harm. As soon as I help Baekhyun, I would be free of the burden of this world, at last.”_

 _“You are too late.”_ \- Chanyeol said bitterly. _“He is dead.”_

 _“Is he?”_ \- she smiled like she knew something obvious Chanyeol was missing. _“Help me put him in the water, please.”_

Just as she asked, Chanyeol carried the body bridal style and advanced towards the cool lake waters, he kept on walking until he couldn’t feel the ground of the lake anymore, so he swam. Some birds flew away as soon as they noticed its presence inside the calm waters.

 _“That’s enough”_ \- the woman shouted from the shore. _“Don’t let him go! And it’s very important that you catch him!”_

 _“Catching him?”_ \- Chanyeol shouted back, confused.

_“You’ll understand soon!”_

The woman put a finger above the waters, creating tiny waves around it, but the waves didn’t stop there, they kept growing and growing until they reached Chanyeol and Baekhyun. That’s when she took out the silver feather, that Minseok gave her, from her sleeve.

She left the feather on the water, at the center of the waves she previously created, when it started spinning like crazy Chanyeol could feel a warmth coming from Baekhyun spreading to his arms, still holding him.

The warmth transformed into light, and the night came, not a night in the lake, there was only water and the stars shining brightly above their heads, there was no shore, only the infinite sky creating a horizon with the vibrating waters of the lake.

Chanyeol couldn’t believe his eyes, the Moon, the same Moon, that, for Baekhyun, once meant a prison, now danced above him, phase after phase, with mathematical precision, like a clock; the new moon, the waning crescent, the third quarter, the waning gibbous, and finally, the full moon.

All the shine stopped, the shore, the trees were back to their natural places, no more stars, no more shining horizon, Baekhyun’s body came down from the sky slowly, taking his time to reach Chanyeol’s arms.

When the body placed itself on Chanyeol, Baekhyun opened his eyes.

_“Why my head hurts so much?”_ \- was the first thing that came from his mouth. Chanyeol couldn’t help himself but he had to laugh and cry at the same time, he was so happy that just one reaction wasn’t enough.

_“Chanyeol?”_

_“Maybe that’s what happens after coming back from the dead”_

Chanyeol hugged Baekhyun tight, forgetting about the fact that they weren’t on solid ground so they, obviously, sunk. While underwater Baekhyun saw the biggest and radiant smile he had ever saw, a smile worth all the gold in the world, a smile that could make the Sun envious of it shine.

Baekhyun didn’t know - yet - what was going on with Chanyeol, but he swore in that exact moment that all he needed in his life was exactly in front of him, smiling like a little kid on his birthday.

From Chanyeol’s perspective, Baekhyun had the same exact smile, and his eyes were sparkling with love in the exact same way. Chanyeol couldn’t help himself to think that he had sunk in more than one way.

And with the kiss they shared under the crystal clear waters they both confirmed it.

Blissfully sunk.

Not long before they both swam until the shore, the lady was no longer there, she didn’t leave a trace, except for a tiny note written in the sand, far from the water.

_“I fulfilled my duties. Take care of him, fiery Prince.”_

Chanyeol blushed a little after reading the message, especially with Baekhyun teasing him, calling him things like “ardent Prince”, “passionate Prince” and such. But with the note also came the time to explain Baekhyun all that had been going on. The last thing the silver haired Prince remembered was being attacked by the witch and passing out.

When he discovered that he had been dead for several hours, Baekhyun laughed, just like that. In his opinion it was stupid to cry or be sad about it, after all he came back from the dead.

_“And I have to thank you, of course”_

_“It was all the magical lady thing, I did nothing.”_

_“That’s not true, you stayed with me, you protected my body.”_ \- Baekhyun gave a tiny peck into Chanyeol’s mouth, making the taller blush. _“Thank you.”_

“I would help bring you back from the dead anytime” - they both laughed feeling their now shared happiness.

The woods had some saying in this conversation, when they weren’t paying enough attention the trees and plants started moving, creating a path that crossed the darkest side of the forest.

_“I think that we need to cross.”_

_“I guess it’s the last gift from our magical lady”_ \- Chanyeol agreed.

Their clothes still had some wet spots here and there, yet they knew that if even the forest was asking them to leave it had to be for a greater reason than some wet jackets and pants. They started crossing the path, at first with caution, they weren’t sure about who paved the path, if the witch or the lady in white, when they discovered that the path avoided deliberately some dangerous areas inside the woods they calmed down.

When you have a path, the Dark Forest is not that dark or that entangled, is just a very long stroll through a poorly illuminated forest. When they reached the end of the path, the forest closed it again, recovering its intimidating and secretive nature.

Both Princes kept walking across Lux, trying to find some village or a farm where they could ask for directions or a horse they could lend to them, but, the darker the night the lesser their possibilities of finding someone wanting to help. They end up sitting over a tiny handmade wall alongside the road, tired and a bit cold.

 _“I feel so weird.”_ \- Baekhyun said.

_“Why?”_

_“I’ve been walking during the day, and nothing happened._ ” - he looked at Chanyeol with a sappy smile. _“No more feathers or wings.”_

_“Aren’t you happy?”_

_“I am. But at the same time.”_ \- Baekhyun sighed. _“ I’m worried. All of you had to fight for me when I was doing almost anything. I can’t help it, I feel like a burden.”_

Chanyeol hugged him and laid back, so he had to lay his head over Chanyeol’s chest.

 _“We did it for love, Baek.”_ \- he kissed Baekhyun’s head. _“Healthy, selfless love is never a burden.”_

They stayed like that for a long time, so long that Chanyeol dozed off without realizing, Baekhyun started singing, still lying on his chest, under the starry sky, everything so quiet, so peaceful, the first lights showing in the horizon.

Baekhyun stopped singing, and the absence of his weight and voice made Chanyeol wake up.

 _“A horse is coming”_ \- Baekhyun was awake and standing in the middle of the road, trying to see where the noise was coming.

They could hear the fast gallop of the horse, whoever it was coming it was clearly in a rush. Minutes before they could clearly hear the horse stopping and a person running to them, Chanyeol got up from his laid back position and ran to the person coming, already yelling.

_“Minseok!”_

Minseok almost fell once or twice along the way like his shoes were to big for him,until he reached Chanyeol. It was easy to see that the had been crying, his eyes swollen and his expression broken. What, neither Baekhyun or Chanyeol, expected was the reason behind it.

_“I killed Jongdae”_


	14. Full Moon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this has been a wild ride, thank you so much for reading.

Over the capital flew a giant shadow that covered everything in darknes while passing over.  
The black swan swallowed the entirity of the city on its way, going nowhere, just terrifying every living being under his shadow.

It looked more like a demon than a bird, everytime it moved its wings thousands of black feathers fell, they weren't normal feathers tho, as soon as they toched ground, or anything for the matter, they made everything crumble under its weight like they were made of metal or stone. The shrieks that came from the creature could froze the blood of the bravest soldier and the drool coming from its beak corroded even the stone and the pavement of the city and burned the flesh of everyone that dared to touch it. People soon started running, running away from their homes, leaving everything they had behind except for the few things they were carrying or wearing. The city flooded with panic and black feathers both with an inmense destructive power.

Baekhyun, Chanyeol and Minseok could only look in horror how the witch, transformed into that hideous creature, destroyed the capital of Lux. She started its path of destruction at the Palace, now made almost completely ruins, were only part of the main structure and the Gardens and some defensive towers at the wall were still standing. Baekhyun felt how his heart sunk, this was all his fault. And he had to stop it.

After Minseok told them what happened with Jongdae and the witch at the Palace and how he had barely scaped, the other two Princes new that the situation will look bad. But no this bad.

 _“I need to search for Jongdae”_ \- Minseok said still with a cheerless tone. - _“I need to see if he is actually dead.”_

Chanyeol looked at Baekhyun, the smallest only sighed and furrowed.

 _“We need to stop her._ ” - Baekhyun simply answered.

 _“How?”_ \- Chanyeol asked.

_“There's got to be a way...”_

Chanyeol facepalmed himself in the middle of the conversation making the other two look at him a bit concerned.

 _“The bottle!”_ \- he showed the pottery bottle to the other two, still intact.

 _“Isn't it too little for such a monster?”_ \- Minseok pointed out.

 _“Maybe we should make her swallow it?”_ \- Baekhyun though grabbing the bottle.

“ _Whatever we do we have to draw its attention from the city...”_ \- Behind their backs the destruction only growed, thousand of buildings destroyed, turned almost ashes, people running in every direction, screaming, crying, disoriented.

In the middle of all that. Chanyeol had an idea.

 _“Let's go to the Palace.”_ \- the red haired Prince said looking to the wreck that once was the Palace of Lux. - “ _Or whats left of it...”_

 _“How do we draw its attention?”_ \- Baekhyun asked.

Inside Chanyeol cape there was a secret pocket. He normally doesn't keep anything there, but since he got lost before Minseok and Jongdae's wedding, his mother made him carry some red flares in case he got lost again. His mother had always been protective, but she had her reasons.

_“We lit these.”_

_“So, we go to the Palace, look for Jongdae, lit the flares, have the duck coming to us... and after that?”_ \- Minseok asked.

 _“We fight”_ \- Baekhyun answered with determination.

 _“Cool. We're going to die.”_ \- this time, Minseok's sarcarstic remark didn't sound like a joke at all.

For Baekhyun this was his first time coming back to the Palace in a long time. At least, as a human. And he wasn't sure that the Palace could be called a Palace anymore. He saw some soldiers running away, leaving their weapons behind them; he couldn't blame them, though, he would be horrified too if he hadn't been living with that witch for two long years.

He sighed. Baekhyun didn't want to think about his family, the witch had probably killed them in the worst possible way, but the thought of his parents and sister dying between tortures and magic spells terrified him even more than the giant demon bird.. They didn't deserve an end like that, they must've had disagreements, but the only sin the've commited was to have such an stubborn son.  
Chanyeol, as a light in the darkness, drew him out of his train of thinking.

 _“Are you okay?”_ \- he asked.

 _“I...”_ \- Baekhyun doubted. - _“I don't know if it's the moment, but... my family.”_

Chanyeol looked to the wrecked remains of the once glorious Palace of Lux.

 _“I bet they are inside.”_ \- Chanyeol stopped on his tracks - _“Minseok, where did you leave Jongdae?.”_

 _“At the other side of the Gardens, near the stables.”_ \- Minseok pointed out, signaling with his head.

 _“We will meet inside the Palace”_ \- Chanyeol drew his long sword. - _“We need to look for Baekhyn's family too.”_

Minseok nodded in agreement.

 _“If that annoying husband of yours is still alive, which I am sure it is..”_ \- Baekhyun started.

 _“I'll brought him with me, you can kick him as soon as we are reunited.”_ \- they both smiled soflty and parted right after, Minseok running through the Gardens and Chanyeol and Baekhyun through the main entrance, but the three of them with a heavy pressure growing inside their bodies.

Entering the remains of the Palace was easier said than done, Baekhyun and Chanyeol realized, the entrance, or at least where the entrance once raised, was now nothing but a bunch of marble, metal and some burnt rests, Baekhyun opted for not to think about what those last could be. Chanyeol pushed away some bigger marble block that, somehow didn't crumble, meawhile Baekhyun tried to remove every black feather he could find, trying not to get injued but failing miserably at some point. This was work for way more people that just the two of them, but all the Palace Guard left the place long ago, some helmets and swords scattered through the remains of the building, the bodies, still into their armors, were completely unrecognizable, leaving a smell of panic and death wherever you laid eyes on.

After a while, Chanyeol pushed a block and discovered a passage,an overture, through the rest of the rubble, directly into the Palace. He shouted, but only the echo of his own voice answered.

Baekhyun called for his mother, for his father, but not even calling their names worked. If there was someone alive in there it must be unconscious.

There was no other choice but to enter.

Baekhyun jumped inside without giving it a second though, or even a first thought, when he landed on the cold marble floor he recognised the rests of the main stairs, somes steps where missing, and the handrail was hanging entirely from the highest part of the staircase, but even if they looked about to crumble under the weight of his feet it was the faster and the easiest way to navigate through the Palace.

 _“Chanyeol”_ \- Baekhyun took the other's hand. _“We should split. This place is too big and we don't have the time.”_

Chanyeol nodded.

 _“Where should I go?”_ \- Chanyeol asked.

 _“To the ball room, and the main dining room. My parents never crossed to the service area, so they shouldn't be there...”_ \- Baekhyun looked at the stairs. - _“I'll go upstairs.”_

Silence grew between them, until the further sound of destruction wake them up again, back into reality.  
Chanyeol hugged Baekhyun.

 _“Whatever you find, or whatever I find... I am with you, Baekhyun”_ \- The Prince of Fulgur whispered into his ear. Baekhyun smiled sincerely, he wondered, how even in such a grim situation, Chanyeol managed to do that. To be a ray of sunshine piercing its way through dark clouds.

 _“I now”_ \- Baekhyun whispered back, breaking the hug slowly to look at the taller right into the eyes.

Chanyeol waited until Baekhyun was at the top of the stairs and sent him a flying kiss.

 _“I'll see you in a moment”_ \- he said with his usual smirk. - _“You know... I was invited to your matching party.”_

 _“What?”_ \- Baekhyun, for a moment woke up from his state of stress and worry, just hearing those words brought him back to the time where he was just the happy Prince of Lux.

 _“I was invited”_ \- Chanyeol said scratching his head - _“But my Kingdom is really far away, the invitation didn't came in time so...”_

 _“Once we get this done”_ \- Baekhyun said firmly - _“Once we get this done, Chanyeol, I promise you that we, together, will celebrate a ball. You won't need an invitation.” -_ Chanyeol looked in awe at Baekhyun's confident gaze.

 _“A wedding ball?”_ \- Chanyeol asked, naïve.

Baekhyun's face turned completely red, instead of answering he started walking, almost running through the corridor shouting at Chanyeol to go and find his parents. Chanyeol, with his ears the color of strawberries left for the ball room with a soft chuckle.

* * *

As soon as Baekhyun saw the ajar door of his parents office his lighthearted mood dissappeared, replacing the butterflies in his stomach with loud and tense bumps inside his heart. With a trembling hand he took the doorknob and entered the room.

_“Whatever you find, or whatever I find... I am with you, Baekhyun”_ , the words Chanyeol so delicately whispered to him echoed inside his brain, giving him a highly demanded dose of courage.

At first glance he didn't found anyone, clear signs of a fight, but anyone to be seen.  
Papers, shards of glass, among other things all over the fancy carpet, nothing recognisable at first sight. He looked, upset, to his father's desk and touched the rich wood of the furniture. The desk of a King, not the desk of his father. Whenever he sat there, any glance of his father vanished, leaving him with the King, always thinking about the best for the country.

And admirable trait for a King. Not so much for a father.

Baekhyun sighed, there was no point on being angry with him now, he made is own father pay for his stubborness, and unintentionally he was making the whole capital pay for his choices.

 _“I'm sorry, father”_ \- Baekhyun whispered, to himself he thought. Until he heard a loud cough coming from beneath the desk.

He run to the other side to find his father in the lowest state he had ever saw him. At his side, his mother, with her eyes closed, she was gone long ago he got there with a big bruise on her head and blood coming from her graceful pale neck, at least, now, she looked in peace. Baekhyun would always regret not seeing here one more time.The man couldn't open an eye, the blood coming from his head was thick and his breathing uneven. He wouldn't last long.

 _“F-Father?”_ \- Baekhyun stuttered. In his mind, Baekhyun remembered the last time he saw him, how he told the man that he wasn't worth of him, how he left, how he ignored his father until he left for good.

 _“Baek- Baekhyun? Is that you?”_ \- his father could only look at him with one eye, but as soon as he recognised his soon, tears started falling - _“ I know it is, this is the real you.”_

His father used almost all his strenght to touch his son silver hair and smile widely.

 _“I'm glad I can see you one more time..”_ \- he whispered.

 _“Father, I- I- “_ \- the knot inside Baekhyun's throat was so heavy that he couldn't talk anymore, the anxiety running wild wouldn't let him move. - _“I'm so sorry.”_

 _“Jongdae was right...”_ \- his father mumbled - _“I...hope he is...okay”_ \- the cough wouldn't let the King speak normally. Baekhyun tried to make him stop talking.

“Listen, to me.” - his father gave Baekhyun a ring, the King's ring. - “You are going to need it.”

 _“I don't want it”_ \- Baekhyun sobbed - _“I'm not fit to be King, I ran away..”_

 _“But you came back in the worst moment.”_ \- his father smiled - _“You'll be a kind King.”_

 _“Father”_ \- Baekhyun called.

“ _You'll be...”_ \- his father closed the only eye he could open - _“It's not your fault.”_

_“Father.”_

_“Father.”_

Baekhyun called for his father more times to receive the same answer: none.

The silver haired Prince wiped the tears falling from his droppy eyes with his hand and tried to regain his state of mind. Still with unsteady breathing, he kissed her mother's forehead, wishing for her to find his father at the other life, hoping that she'll look over him with love. A loud cry came from inside his trembling body, he couldn't supress it, the pain was way too much.  
But he knew, that time was running out.  
Once Baekhyun managed to calm his breathing and he had no more yells inside to release, he took three more things from his father.  
He put the ring on his left hand,exactly where his father used to carry it, because he was now a King; his father sword, made of the best steel in Lux, because he was now a warrior.  
Lastly, but not least, he took the pain of his loss and used it to create courage and rage, because if you want to avenge your family and your country in the same evening you are going to need both in great amounts.

Baekhyun went downstairs to find Chanyeol sitting in the middle of the worn out ball room, not so long ago it was the most beautiful stay on the Palace, but right now it was just a shadow of its glory, only a few of the beautiful golden chandeliers were still in place, most of them broken and scaterred everywhere, the colored glass from the windows had the same luck. The floor and ornaments on the cream colored walls were shattered and filthy, and the elegant staircase completely gone, only a few steps remaining at the top. Baekhyun couldn't recognice the place.

 _"You found them"_ – Chanyeol whispered as soon as he saw Baekhyun entering the room, getting up from the floor.

Baekhyun simply nodded.

 _"I don't have the time right now to mourn"_ – he said showing the ring to Chanyeol, who took his hand softly in his bigger ones, caresing the finger now dressed with the fancy ring.

 _"Once we are done with this, you'll have time."_ \- Chanyeol said moving his hand to cup Baekhyun's cheek – _"You'll have time to mourn, you'll have time to be happy... and I'l be with you, my King."_

Baekhyun's eyes turned soft at Chanyeol's words, they got closer, their lips were centimeters apart when a loud cough came from the door leading to the Gardens.

Standing there, Minseok and, to be honest, a barely standing Jongdae lying some of his weight on his husband.

 _"Jongdae!_ " - Baekhyun run into his dear friend and gave him a hug.

 _"Auch!_ " - Jongdae protested – _"Careful, Minseok stabbed me."_

Minseok scoffed.

 _"For a moment I thought.."_ \- Baekhyun wanted to say but the emotion got tangled in his throat, Jongdae being alive were the first good news in the whole day.

 _"When I saw that person, the witch, but with your face, your voice... I couldn't believe it. I thought it was you."_ \- Jongdae sighed relieved – "S _oon I understood that it wasn't you, I was very confused."_

 _"We need to stop her"_ – Minseok said with confidence – _"I'll not let this slip. I want her to pay."_

 _"I want it too"_ – Chanyeol said looking fiercely, a fire starting to grow inside of him – " _She killed Baekhyun in front of my eyes, I'll never forget, nor forgive."_

 _"She killed Baekhyun?"_ \- Jongdae asked looking at Baekhyun weirdly.

 _"Yes, but the lady Minseok talked about revived me."_ \- the silver haired royal explained.

 _"The lady did what?" -_ Jongdae was now even more confused looking at his husband.- _"You need to update me on your adventures."_

 _"I've been busy"_ – Minseok said with a prideful look.

A loud shriek coming from the demon bird outside interrumpted the conversation between the four Princes, bringin them back to the current situation, there will be a better time for updates and laughs.

 _"Chanyeol"_ – Baekhyun said in a demanding tone – _"Bring the duck here."_

Chanyeol nodded and took the flare.

 _"What are we going to do? Jongdae can barely stand on its own, he can't fight"_ – the tall Prince of Igneus pointed.

 _"But it have to"_ – Jongdae freed his husband from the burden of his weight and drew his sword. _"Is her or us."_

They all looked at each other and nodded confidently. Chanyeol lit the flare, suddenly in the evening sky, an scarlet red explosion brought the attention of every person in the city, while they were trying to get out of the capital and save their lives they wondered who lit that flare from the ruins of the Palace. That, exactly, should be the thought of the giant demon bird, because as soon as the sound and the color from the flare vanished from the sky it put its gaze on the Palace ruins. And soon its wings.

Before the black swan could lay feet on the Palace again, Chanyeol gave Baekhyun the pottery bottle and a soft nod of reassurement. Baekhyun tied it tightly on his belt, they can't lose this battle, everything counts, and if the magical lady was capable of something as resurection, the pottery bottle must mean something.

The swan changed its form as soon as it was in front of the four Princes, the dark haired Baekhyun looking at them with a smile full of malice, and eyes thristy of destruction.

 _"What do we have here? A little friend reunion?"_ \- The witch using Baekhyun's features appoached the four of them in a slow pace.

" _Stop using that face, bitch"_ – Chanyeol blurted out, drawing his sword.

 _"You should put a leash on your guard dog, Prince Baekhyun"_ – the witch in its disguise laughed – _"I must say that I am surprised that you are here, with us, I thought that I've killed you."_

 _"It's King Baekhyun for you"_ – Baekhyun drew his sword and walked towards his own image until they were face to face – _"Leave the Kingdom of Lux, now."_

For Baekhyun watching his own face laughig so loudly, so disrespectfully at him was the weirdest moment on his life, if it wasn't for the tense atmosphere in the ball room he would've freaked out.

The room went dark, all the light coming from the broken windows sealed, the floor trembled and the laugh of the witch echoed trhough the air, the scenario was no longer stable or static, the floor moved under their feet, making them stumble, a thick purple cloud of smoke surrounded the body of the witch, still using Baekhyun's appeareance.

When the smoke dispeled, the giant bird was back, stepping over every single thing she found under her giant demon body, it wasn't easy to dodge her giant palm-shaped feet and having to dodge too the drool falling from her beak wasn't making the jod easier in any way posibble.

Chanyeol run towards her legs, and pierced through her skin with his sword, trying to make a deep cut, and attemp to make her fall, but her response was to shake said leg and make Chanyeol hit against the wall with all her brute force.

 _"Chanyeol!"_ \- Minseok and Baekhyun yelled after hearing the red haired hit the wall and the loud yell he emited.

Minseok run over Chanyeol, he was still conscious, but his back injured, his breathing uneven, the Nix Prince helped him got up, his sword still on his left hand, the witch saw an opportunity to kick both Princes out of the equation by simply stomping on them.

But while doing so she lost Baekhyun and Jongdae from sight.

Quickly the other two Princes mounted the giant bird, as soon as the witch noticed them on her back she shaked her entire body, and unfolded her wings, the stay was not as big as to contain such a monster, so her wings collided with the side walls, creating a rain of stones and feathers falling everywhere, cutting and destroying everything they entered in contact with. With the tremble, Jongdae fell from the back of the witch, but while doing he stabbed the demon deeply with his sword, making the creature shriek so hard that the whole remainings of the Palace trembled, when Jongdae reached the ground he was completely covered in thick black blood from the beast.

Baekhyun started to climb over the swan's neck, step by step, trying not to lose its grip, the feathers were cutting deep into his skin, his own blood making it more difficult to hold still, but the King of Lux was determined, he had to reach the head.  
The swan moved its neck like a snake, forward and backwards, from side to side, at some point, all that Baekhyun wanted was to vomit right there.

Chanyeol, once recovered his breathing, charged again against the demon, this time instead of falling, the point was to make her stop moving or, at least, make her move less so Baekhyun could climb. With this sword he stabbed the swan's right foot meawhile Minseok stabbed the other, Jongdae with his injuries tried to regain some breath.

The witch didn't stop moving, and this time the drool coming from her beak was more abundant and thicker, when it touched the ground everything around it melt straight away, Baekhyun could feel the pain of his skin melting under the acid drool, his fingers and arms were starting to feel numb, but his determination didn't. The shrieks coming from the beast scared him, Minseok's swearing when a bunch of drool injured his arm burning his coat and skin, the screams coming from Chanyeol right behind him, the unsteady breathing coming from Jongdae trying to fight so desperately, it all scared him deeply.

But what scared Baekhyun the most was a world where he couldn't hear or feel any of them anymore. A world were those four guy didn't exist anymore.A world without Minseok's sarcastic remarks, a world without Jongdae's loud voice. A world without Chanyeol's hug and sweet smiles.  
Baekhyun had lost too much. He wasn't losing anything else.  
Every single step he climbed was a torture for his body, ever shriek a torture for his mind, but inside of him, the words of his father echoed strongly.

> _"You'll be a kind King."_

Baekhyun, with great effort, reached the head, and could feel the giant pitch black eyes of the beast looking directly at him, he could also hear the witch laughing at him, deeply inside of his mind.

_"It's your fault, Baekhyun"_

_"Look what you've done, fool Prince."_

_"A King? Don't make me laugh."_

" _They are all going to die because of you."_

_"It's your fault."_

No.  
No.

_"No, it it isn't"_ – Baekhyun yelled on top of the beast. He grabbed the pottery bottle and he didn't even bother to unclog it, he simply slode and arm directly inside of the beak and tossed it inside, the beast started moving like crazy, this time, instead of a purple smoke, it was sky blue – Minseok recognized the color- so thick that any of them could see anything three steps ahead. But Baekhyun was in the middle of it, with her, once more.

 _"You..:"_ \- the witch's body started falling in pieces, like a tree loses its leaves in winter. - _"I'll be back, fool Prince."_

 _"No, you wont. And I told you, I'm a King now."_ \- Baekhyun approached harshly and hammered his sword straight into her chest. The witch tried to reach Baekhyun, tried to take the sword from her body but Baekhyun only turned it to make the hole even bigger.

A white light came straight from her chest, and after that, anything.

The silence after the storm.

**Two months later.**

To King Baekhyun the restauration of the Palace was the least important thing on the list, so, meanwhile every single coin from the Royal Vault was used to restore the tarnished capital, he had to move into the Fulgur Palace, the closest one. He gave everything he had to help his population, he wanted to be an example of confidence and kindness to everyone living in Lux, and also, he wanted to make his family proud of him wherever they are.

Minseok and Jongdae left to their real honeymoon as soon as their bruises and injuries were fully recovered, Jongdae's stab wound was tricky to heal since it required a lot of bedding and Jongdae is a person with way too much energy, at the same time, Minseok's arm would never recover completely, he will always carry a scar on his right arm, but he soon discovered that he didn't hate it at all, to him his scars were a proof that he stood against evil for his friends, and husband, and it made him utterly proud of himself. Also, the blue color didn't vanish from his head.

Chanyeol didn't want to leave to Igneus, but as soon as he was able to move his back and mount a horse he had to. His parents needed and explanation, and, he said, maybe they'll contribute to the restoration of Lux.

Anyway, Baekhyun had no doubt that he will be coming back as soon as he could. And so he did.

 _"I missed you."_ \- Baekhyun whispered into the hug the tall Prince gave him as soon as they laid eyes on each other.

 _"I missed you too."_ \- Chanyeol answered, almost shouting, elated, every maid around them looking shyly to them. Royals aren't usually that prone to show affection.

 _"How are your parents?"_ \- Baekhyun asked straight to the point – "What did you told them?"

 _"Well, of course I told them everything...you know, they were a bit shocked with all the news, but they believe me, of course they do I am their beloved son."_ \- he said jockingly.

Baekhyun chuckled softly, sitting on a bench at the Fulgur Palace Gardens right beside his beloved.

 _"And? It sounds like there is more"_ – Bakehyun has been working as a King for only two months, but he soon understood why his father didn't like when he took detours to explain things, Kings don't have the luxury of wasting time.

 _"I asked them about helping you with the restorations"_ – Chanyeol blushed heavily.

_"They said no"_

_"No"_

" _They said yes?"_ \- Baekhyun asked and Chanyeol nodded. Now the blush was all over his ears too.

 _"With one condition."_ \- Baekhyun tilted his head, wondering.

 _"In exchange for the help...they want... a wedding"_ – Chanyeol's whole face blushed and Baekhyun can't say that he didn't blush. He gave it a thought before, he didn't want to pressure Chanyeol, but since it's his parents asking...

Baekhyun gave a quick peck to Chanyeol.

_"Of course there will be a wedding, I promised you a ball, didn't I?"_

They both laughed together, sat at the bench, their knees touching and their eyes shining with love and promises.  
If it wasn't for the marvelous sound of Chanyeol's laugh in his ears, Baekhyun could swear that it was all a dream, there was a lot of work still to do and, but Baekhyun knows that there are no burdens if Chanyeol is right next to him, laughing and smiling like that.

**Author's Note:**

> Author's note: In case you haven't noticed, the Kingdom names came from the power of each EXO member in latin.
> 
> Lux = light  
> Fulgur = lightning bolt  
> Ventus = wind  
> Nix = Snow  
> Aqualis = Watery  
> Igneus = Burning


End file.
